


Dark Sun

by WiggityFresh



Series: Persona: Shadows of the Goddess [2]
Category: Persona Series
Genre: Action/Adventure, Aftermath, Angst, Brainwashing, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Manipulation, Possession, Post-Persona 5, Things Get Really Intense Really Fast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2020-09-05 20:57:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 38
Words: 183,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20279713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WiggityFresh/pseuds/WiggityFresh
Summary: "In all chaos there is a cosmos, in all disorder a secret order." - Carl Jung.The world has been thrown into a living hell.The Phantom Thieves have been unofficially disbanded, lacking a leader, and have been unjustly accused of the ensuing chaos. Persona-users have either gone missing, been pronounced dead, reappeared after years of being gone, or have simply found themselves fighting for humanity and against the darkness.Sequel to 'Ground Zero: Redux'.[Hiatus over! We're back, baby!]





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically chapter 0.5, but since that isn't an option, we're calling it Chapter 1.
> 
> Also! This is part of series, so you need to read Part 1 (Ground Zero) first if you want to get anything.
> 
> **EDIT: As of now Ground Zero Redux is the new 'Part 1'. This doesn't change Dark Sun very much as of now, but if you want to see what little things have been changed, checking out Redux would be nice!**

**One month prior.**

* * *

The Shadow Operatives were an elite team of Persona users, specifically tasked to hunt down and destroy Shadows. It had originally been an update of the original SEES team, barring a few members who couldn’t join due to tragic circumstances. The team had been almost entirely funded by the Kirijo Group. Mitsuru had a fairly extensive inheritance, and even that aside, company money saw the team as a reasonable expense. However, it had also been jointly discovered and funded by the Nanjo Group, which seemed to be able to offer up their own data on Shadows (or as they had been dubbed- ‘Demons’), allowing their work to become more precise and accurate.

In recent years however, more and more of SEES had chosen to abandon the life of hunting Shadows, and pursue their own personal dreams. Iori Junpei, heralded for his powerful agi and strike magic, left to play baseball. Takeba Yukari had become an actress, and gained a leading role in the acclaimed sentai show ‘Phoenix Ranger Featherman’. Amada Ken had chosen to focus on his studies, and took Koromaru along with him. Labrys, one of their most recent (and debatably most powerful) members, had gone AWOL within recent months. Aigis had predicted she had gone off to experience casual human life on a more legitimate scale, and had suggested to give her space and time. Nobody disagreed. 

So, the remaining members were Sanada Akihiko, who had a habit of leaving and returning without much fanfare or warning, but was still a reliable member all the same. Aigis, an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon that had made the choice to devote her life towards protecting the general public from Shadows. Yamagishi Fuuka, their Navigator, who had technically gone off to pursue her own life, but was generally always on call when explicitly needed. And Kirijo Mitsuru, the de-facto leader of the Shadow Operatives, and the current head of the Kirijo Group. The current members of the Shadow Operatives had honed their Persona skills to their fullest, pushing past the limits of needing Evokers in order to unlock their true power. They still understood that growth was possible, but Evokers had become unwieldy and inconvenient for quick situations, especially with the lack of members. 

Long story short, they were powerful. Or, at least considered themselves so. 

Mitsuru was pursuing an anonymous tip about strange occurrences off in a location noted as ‘Osore Village’. She had decided to pursue it alone. After all, there hadn’t been anything specifically urgent about the tip- and she knew she was strong enough to handle the situation on her own. So, it was a fairly standard set-up. Mitsuru on the field, Aigis on mission control. 

Her confidence wavered slightly when she arrived at the village and it was eerily empty. She looked around, hopping off of her motorcycle and taking off her helmet, shaking out her hair. She took a few careful steps, before pulling out a small device from her pocket. Her motorcycle was made to detect Shadows, but in recent years condensing that technology to be more portable and accurate was incredibly easy. “Any Shadows nearby, Aigis? I’m not picking up any readings.” She asked, taking a few steps through the ghost town. 

_”No confirmed Shadows, but you do have a lifeform approaching you quickly from behind.”_ A voice replied through her earpiece. Mitsuru’s eyes narrowed, before she quickly turned around, pointing her rapier at a young girl. The first person she spotted in the town. The girl seemed… boring, to say the least. Dark hair, spotted dress. What one would generally imagine and expect from ‘little girl’. The only thing of note were her eyes, which were a striking yellow. 

“It’s a child, Aigis.” Mitsuru informed. The girl stared at her for a moment, clutching a stuffed animal within her arms. Mitsuru couldn’t discern what it was. The girl stared for a few long, agonizing moments, before finally speaking. 

“You’re not a Shadowman.” She whispered. 

“...I’m not.” Was the only thing Mitsuru could reply, the girl got closer. Her eyes seemed empty, tired, as they scanned and stared at the Shadow Operative with a wariness and intensity that most children lacked. Even Ken, in all of his maturity, still seemed to retain some of his childishness. This was… different. “Where are your parents?” 

“Gone.” 

_Ah._ Well, that certainly wasn’t good. Her first assumption was that they had become ‘Shadowmen’, whatever those were. Was that some form of Apathy Syndrome? That was certainly possible, being a less mature and informed interpretation of what was happening. She looked around, before the girl pointed past Mitsuru, screaming. Mitsuru whipped around, before seeing a person sprinting at her. It was a man, his skin pale and dry, his eyes dark and empty, and a dark liquid drooling out of his mouth. She grit her teeth, before focusing, a familiar blue glow surrounding her body. 

“Persona!” 

A form rose from her body. Elegant, in a dress adorned with blades, wearing a red, beak-like masquerade mask. It flourished over Mitsuru, a chill immediately filling the town, before firing an icy wind towards the attacking person. “Bufula!” Mitsuru yelled, before her assailant was entirely frozen in his tracks, leaving her and the girl safe. “Aigis, why didn’t you warn me?” 

_”Mitsuru-senpai… I did warn you. Did you not hear me?”_

Mitsuru quirked a brow. “I did not. I would accuse a faulty connection but we should have enough satellites so that it wouldn’t be an issue. Perhaps it was just a mistake. We’ll proceed as normal.” She glanced back towards the girl, who had gripped onto her fur coat. 

_”Understood. My apologies.”_

“Don’t apologize. It wasn’t your fault.” She began to circle her attacker. “Does this person come up as a Shadow?” 

_”He has similar readings, but not exactly.”_

That was interesting. “...And while you’re at it, put some research into ‘Shadowmen’, and see what results come up. Especially in regards to Osore Village. Urban legends, recorded incidents, anything.” She gestured for the young girl to follow behind, before continuing her trek through the presumed ghost town. Now she knew that she could be ambushed at any moment. The girl continued to follow behind, humming to herself. The girl seemed more confident now, perhaps safer considering how quickly Mitsuru had been able to handle the problem. Although she hardly seemed phased by the concept of her Persona in the first place- to the point where she hadn’t even asked. 

“Here, ma’am.” The girl whispered once more, pointing to a small, run-down looking house. “This is where my parents are.” 

“I thought you said they were gone.” 

“They are.” 

Mitsuru approached the door, and as soon as her hand touched the handle, something banged against the other side. It struck it again, and again, before the door flung open, and another- what she could assume was a ‘Shadowman’ flung at her. She was tackled, pinned to the ground before being punched and clawed at. She felt one of the feral slashes draw blood from her cheek, before she summoned her Persona once again, letting Artemisia strike again with a Bufula, freezing the attacker, and being able to get a good look at her. It was a woman, who seemed to have a decent resemblance to the young girl, although this woman seemed to be in her twenties- close to Mitsuru’s age. Not old enough to be a mother, unless she had been followed around by an extremely literate toddler. 

Mitsuru pushed the body off of her, watching as it clattered to the side, the ice cracking slightly. She stood up, before glaring at the young girl. 

“Did you have any siblings?” 

“No.” 

Mitsuru didn’t respond. That was even more suspicious. Especially if this woman was allegedly her mother. Mitsuru stepped in through the front door, before placing one hand on the floor, power welling up inside her. She closed her eyes gently, as Artemisia floated up and above the house. “Mabufudyne.” She said, calmly, as the building instantly flash-froze, becoming a winter wonderland in seconds. 

“Impressive…” The girl whispered, waddling up behind her. Mitsuru began to walk through the building, noting several frozen figures hiding within the rafters, the steps, closets, doors. This would have been bad, she would have been swarmed. 

_”Mitsuru! Large amounts of Shadow-like presences! Proceed with caution!”_ Aigis yelled in her ear. Mitsuru winced. 

“Already handled. I’m starting to get the feeling that you’re being intentionally blocked out.” 

_”Potentially so. Also, I have found something interesting.”_ Mitsuru continued walking around, waiting for her to continue. _”Mitsuru. At the risk of sounding cliche, Osore Village has been abandoned for approximately fifty years. And even still, it was only given the moniker ‘Osore’ after passing travelers had spread rumors about ‘ghosts’ within it. The villages real name is ‘Tomorokoshi’, and had been left behind after several droughts dried up the farming community.”_

“...Thank you, Aigis. I’ll keep that in mind.” That was the final straw. She had the feeling something was wrong from the beginning. In fact, she had the idea she was being led into a trap, and had just managed to foil it from the simple idea of freezing the building before. “Run a scan, ignoring the Shadow presences, what are you picking up from the person behind me? We’ve generalized it to ‘lifeform’, but…” 

_”Understood. I’m on it.”_

Mitsuru nodded, before continuing to wander the building. She unsheathed her rapier, ready to attack. Killing a child was… bad, which is why she needed some sort of confirmation that she was dealing with something inhuman. It’d be easy to simply freeze her like the rest of the ‘Shadowmen’, but she needed to make sure ‘all the bases were covered’, as Iori might say. 

...She actually hadn’t spoken to Junpei in a while. She hoped he was doing well with himself. He had grown up to be… more responsible than he had been. She had never said it out loud, but she had been proud to see how quickly her kouhai had grown. 

She continued to wander aimlessly, taking looks at all of the frozen people. They were all wearing drastically different clothing- if they all truly lived in this town together, they’d have similar clothing patterns. But these were all for different weathers and climates. One had even been wearing a raincoat. It was as if all of these people had been simply… shoved together in the same area for some reason. 

Aigis’ voice rang in her ear. 

_”It’s unidentifiable. Impossible to confirm as even human. It… also seems to be growing in power by the second. Please be on your guard, try to escape, or attack now.”_

Mitsuru knew what she had to do, quickly throwing her rapier towards the young girl like a spear, pinning her against the wall. There was no scream, or sound of pain, just an empty glare from the young-seeming husk before her. Before the girl began to laugh, and her earpiece exploded, her head pounding and her right ear ringing as she grabbed at it, squinting her eyes shut. 

“I’ve learned a lot about you, Kirijo. Wealthy, powerful, trusted and accepted… and a New-Generation Persona-user.” The girl spoke, finally above a whisper. A dominating, confident, booming voice. It was unsettling, and she was somewhat glad she was partially deaf at the moment. Mitsuru narrowed her eyes, summoning her Persona once more. A Persona-like occurrence seemed to form behind the girl as well- black and gurgling, like Yamagishi’s cooking, as her face seemed to melt away entirely, instead of a Cheshire grin, and the world around her seemed to fade away. The iced over walls crumbled, and the ghost town she was in was a barren wasteland. She looked around, confused, before glancing back at her attacker, having shifted into a formless, black shape, with endless faces shifting in and out. 

“...What are you?” Mitsuru asked, trying to focus and cast Mind Charge on herself during the dead time before the fight began. 

“Don’t worry about it, Kirijo.” The formless mass gurgled, before lunging at her, several tendrils grasping at her fur coat as she ducked out of the way, the coat being dragged back into the formless mass. She held out her hand, her Persona fired another wave of ice, striking the mass with little effect. 

Another wave of dark tentacles, as Mitsuru continued to duck and wave, before focusing in on the mass, and casting ‘Ice Break’. “No more resistances!” She yelled, before being struck with a stray tentacle, flying backwards. While she was airborne, another tentacle grabbed her leg, starting to yank her backwards towards the formless mass. She got dangerously close, before sending off a point-blank Bufudyne, causing the tentacles to recoil. She scrambled backwards, before seeing something that made her blood curdle. 

A form began to shudder out of the dark mass. A woman with long red hair, a fur coat, black catsuit, and rapier on her hip. It was like she was staring into a distorted mirror, as the trembling mass began to meld into the copy of her, before it was gone entirely, and her doppleganger was the only thing remaining. 

“For what could be considered a worm in the cosmic scale of things, you're a fairly impressive one.” Her copy began. _Her voice._ Mitsuru pushed herself to her feet, gritting her teeth. “That, and your allies blind obedience will give me the advantage I need to enact my plans. I simply need to get you out of the way.” Her copy rested one hand on her hip, before snapping her fingers in a lazy fashion. 

Mitsuru squinted, before hearing an intense rumbling above her and looked up, before seeing a beam of almighty energy strike her from the heavens, and all of the sudden her vision went black. 

* * *

Aigis quickly approached Mitsuru as she returned to their headquarters, worried. “Oh, there you are! We had lost contact with you, and I had perhaps been worried that you had perished on the battlefield. I was about to notify Akihiko to retrieve you.” 

The thing currently thought to be Mitsuru narrowed her eyes, before flicking out a pair of sunglasses, and placing them on her face. “I appreciate you being worried, Aigis. But that was unneeded.” She began walking forwards, as Aigis started to trail behind her, pulling up several screens. 

The blonde girl nodded, before looking at Mitsuru quizzically. “What about the unknown presence? Was it a new Shadow type? If you collected any samples or data, that would be incredibly useful in the case we discover another--” 

‘Mitsuru’ groaned, rubbing her temples. “Be _quiet_, Aigis. If I had a sample, I would have given it to you. Correct?” 

“I… I suppose so. My apologies.” 

“Then don’t ask me pointless questions, leave me alone, and give me all of the current information that we have on Persona-users and those… incidents? Those Thieves, whatever they’re called…” 

Aigis tilted her head to the side, confused. “...The Phantom Thieves of Hearts? I mean, we’ve been theorizing that they’ve been working on a scale similar to the Inaba Investigation Team a la ‘alternate universe’, but…” 

Mitsuru spun around on her heels, folding her arms. She glared daggers into the Anti-Shadow Weapon, who took a few careful steps back. “Quit making excuses, and get me the information. Now.” She gestured, shooing Aigis away. “I’ll be in my office.” 

Aigis stared as Mitsuru marched away, as Akihiko finally reached the lobby. Late, unsurprisingly, but at least he was there. He had been gone for several months this time, on his ‘soul and body’ training excursions. He raised a brow, wandering up next to Aigis. “...What’s her problem? I mean, she can be moody, but this is… intense. Maybe I should talk to her.” 

Aigis sighed, shrugging. “Perhaps she is worn out from her last battle. In any case, I’ll go dig up the files. It’s very glad to have you back, Akihiko-senpai.” She bowed, before quickly walking off. 

* * *

Deep below the Tokyo Kirijo Building, far away from any public access, and additionally out of the way from any security guards, there was weak, yet manic banging coming from the other side of a locked room at the end of a darkened hallway. A voice, screaming for any sort of help or reprieve. Panic coming from a voice that normally stayed calm and collected. For the first time in years, Kirijo Mitsuru was regaining the crushing feeling of loneliness and solitude that she had worked to eliminate from her life. She could feel her mind slipping, whatever that monster had done to her was finally starting to set in, but she focused her resolve on one thing- the need for freedom. She continued to wrestle herself from the deterioration of her mind, before the banging slowed, before becoming a few pathetic slaps and crushed whimper before the darkened hallway became silent once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome... to a flashback chapter.
> 
> The first couple chapters of Dark Sun are essentially going to introduce a few new voices, expand on some unresolved voices, and then keep trucking forwards.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!
> 
> \- Wiggityfresh


	2. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tatsuya Suou has found his way back to This Side, and quickly realizes he isn't alone anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd call this the 'Real Chapter 1', but since that'd only confuse people... Chapter 2 it is.

Suou Tatsuya was a man of little interest in the world around him. That interest had been stripped from him years ago, when he condemned himself to his eternal punishment within the Other Side. A world entirely overrun by demons and shadows. A world that was a testament to his mistakes. He deserved to be down here- he knew that to be true, and he knew that he should remain down in the hellish world he had called ‘home’ for the past two decades.

And yet. 

And yet, he saw the gates to what he could only assume was Heaven, and found himself drawn. The first real sunlight after years. On the Other Side, the world’s rotation was halted. The sun burned in one spot, and unfortunately it wasn’t towards him. He took a deep breath, as another swarm of demons flittered past him, making their way towards the light. Like moths to a flame. Beings of evil finding themselves drawn to the goodness of mankind. They split around him, carving a path in which he was untouched. The one constant to this world was that, in the years of fighting, he had become so immensely powerful that it took a demon with either a suicide wish or an extreme amount of confidence to challenge him. And he gratefully took those challenges. 

He hardly needed to summon his Persona. He felt the flames of Apollo shine within him at any moment. He had grown, evolved, became the Sun that was missing from the emaciated Sumaru City. He hopped off his motorcycle, staring upwards at the void, as if waiting for it to beckon him. Speak to him. Give him permission. 

And so it spoke. 

In the form of a building crashing downwards. His body tensed, as it fell, crushing several demons underneath it as it continued to fall towards him. He grit his teeth, the faint shimmer of another self surrounding him, before the world around him was forced to a halt. He then began to proceed, sprinting towards one of the taller buildings, and climbing with minimal effort. He found himself on the roof, before sprinting off said roof into the crashing building, now suspended in the air akin to a puppet on a string. 

Floor after floor, he sprinted. Time was his to control, he was the epitome of strength. No longer a coward. No longer a failure that made others suffer for his own mistakes. He was strong. 

_**”Tsk, tsk, Tacchan. You can be so foolish at times. We all know how truly weak you are.”**_ He heard a voice in his ear. A haunting voice, wavering on the edge of masculine and feminine. Mocking, relentless, and enough to shatter his concentration so that he tripped, stumbling on the steps, as the wheels of time began to crank once more. He grimaced, forcing himself to his feet as he found himself sprinting up the building in real time. He looked out the window, and saw a swarm of demons heading upwards. He broke the glass on one of the windows as quickly as possible, before feeling a gust of wind burst past him, as the strong wings of Phoenix flapped past him. He whistled, as the avian demon stopped, before slowly flapping backwards, staring him in the eyes. 

_”Ah… the Immortal Sun. To be called upon by thee is an honor.”_

He felt the building continue it’s decent, and the floor starting to buckle. He leaped out the window, grasping onto the Phoenix’s flaming feathers. It fumbled in the air for a moment, before righting itself, and shooting upwards. The two of them burst out from the Other Side, the warmth of the real sun bathing them both once again. Tatsuya closed his eyes, taking it in for a moment, before looking down at the chaos below him. 

Humanity. 

He stared down like a judgemental god, as demons began attacking innocents. Some were trying to fight back. Others were simply planning on accepting their fates. He even saw that some were wielding the power of Persona, knocking back demons with ease. Or… what could be assumed as ease. They would tire soon enough, and then be the same as all of the other humans. His eyes narrowed, before he blinked, his own thoughts confusing him. He was a human- he was one of them. He had been alone for so long, that they seemed more akin to a foreign species than his own. He heard the Phoenix clear its throat. 

_”Great Sun. Would you mind--”_

“Drop me. Over there.” He pointed at a family that was being hounded by several Andras. They all ran into a store- a clothing store, it seemed like. The Phoenix, either glad to be soon rid of Tatsuya, or glad to be of service- he didn’t care which- quickly flew him to his desired destination. Tatsuya leaped off, landing behind the swarm of demons and holding out one hand, a wave of heat beginning to gather. The warmth surged through his body, as the power of Apollo Prime found itself to the physical plain. 

“Maha Agidyne.” 

The demons exploded in a mass of flames and feathers almost instantly, as the terrified family stared past the destruction at their hero clad in motorcycle attire. He took a step forward, as they all trembled, except for one of the children, who was staring at him with a look of… glee? 

“I told you Featherman was real, mama! He just saved our lives!” The young boy exclaimed, causing Tatsuya to freeze in his tracks. He expected a lot of things. Being compared to a children’s superhero was not one of those. He took a look at his outfit. He was covered head to toe in red, and he supposed his motorcycle helmet could have a mask-like feel to it. It was shoddy, but he could grasp as the resemblance. It made him feel… good. A new sort of feeling. Or… not new, but uncovered. 

He quickly realized that he had been ominously staring at the family in silence for too long, and quickly gestured for them to leave. “Find cover. The demons are relentless. Switch locations every twenty minutes or so.” He advised, as they dashed past them- the boy taking an extra moment to hug Tatsuya’s leg before sprinting off. An extra second that might cost them their lives… an extra second that made him feel needed. 

He mulled over what the kid had said. A ‘real life Featherman’? He certainly didn’t seem like a superhero. In all honesty, ‘super’ was one of the last adjectives he would use for himself. But it was a nice feeling, being needed. Being admired. He smiled a bit under his helmet, before wandering around the shop, taking a cautious look around. Demons were smart- and especially sneaky. There was a way to draw the childish ones out, however. He squatted down, making his way through the aisles. 

“Vroom… vroom... “ 

He pushed past one of the racks. Twenty years was plenty of time to work on his motorcycle impressions. He squinted, looking around a few t-shirts. “Shooough… guhguhguhguh… roowmn…” He groaned, before standing up, shaking his head. Either he had a tough crowd, or there weren’t many demons left. Which meant he could wander around in peace. 

He found his way to the costumes, and stared at one of the adult Featherman costumes with a mixture of amusement and curiosity. When he was a kid, they only sold the masks in his hometown, and they were a commodity. Begging his brother to buy him that Red Eagle mask… 

“Katsuya…” 

He smiled to himself, before picking up the Red Hawk costume. It was ridiculous, really. Was he seriously planning on ditching his motorcycle gear, putting on a Sentai costume, and then saving people like some kind of superhero? 

...When was the last time he had actually had fun? 

He looked around, trying to make sure nobody saw him, before taking off his motorcycle helmet, and putting on the Red Hawk mask with a smile. He chuckled to himself, a low, rumbling laugh that hadn’t been used in years. He pulled off his jumpsuit, putting on the rest of the costume, before another voice knocked him out of his long-forgotten childish joy. 

“...What the fuck?” 

Tatsuya jumped, slipping on the plastic bag the costume was held in. He crashed to the ground, before tucking and diving out of sight, as two more people made their way into the store. He wasn’t sure why he was hiding. He was strong enough to handle himself, but at the same time he was incredibly embarrassed. He was half-naked wearing a sentai mask. Embarrassment felt fitting. Which was new, since he hadn’t felt embarrassed in about twenty years as well. Although he also hadn’t been around people in twenty years. He waited, his body heating up as he prepared to unleash the wrath of Apollo Prime. He heard the two people shuffling around, talking to each other. 

“That was a person? Was he trying to steal a Featherman costume?” A woman. Something about her voice was so familiar. It’s sharpness. Pitch. It reminded him of an Angel. 

“The city’s gone to shit, babe. It was only a matter of time for people to start lootin’ shit.” A man. Gruffer, but there was some sort of inlaid attitude in his tone. Like that of a masculine Nekomata. He could have sworn these voices were familiar, but it wasn’t connecting how until… 

“_Fanna…_ first demons, and now looters? I know we’re supposed to protect everyone, but people need to realize that chaos isn’t an excuse to go crazy.” 

Cantonese. “Lisa?” He whispered, loud enough for the two of them to hear him. Silence fell in the store. Tatsuya felt his heart beat- it had been a while since he had felt that as well. Adrenaline rushing through his body, as he stood up, his hands in the air. As if it meant anything. It wasn’t like he was afraid of who he was about to see from a strength standpoint- and yet the fear in his heart was incredible. He stared at the two people in front of him, only lit by the dim, back-up lights in the store. It made their appearances haunting, flickering as if they’d simply vanish like ghosts. 

Lisa. He had never found any romantic interest in her, but his assumption of her being close to an Angel wasn’t far off. Blue eyes that still seemed to twinkle within the darkness, fair skin almost on par with the mannequins set up around the shop. Blonde hair that, while disheveled, seemed to sweep to the side. He watched as one of her feet slid backwards, and the other adjusted forwards. A fighting stance. He was sitting in the crosshairs of Venus. 

He looked over at the man. Eikichi. Ghostly pale skin. Still wearing make-up. Not as much as he did back during his time in high school, but he clearly didn’t quit the habit. Dyed hair prickling upwards like a bird fluffing its feathers to mark its territory. Blue lips twisted into a scowl as he held up his fists into a boxing-adjacent posture. Of course, he was also in the sights of Hades. 

“It’s been so long…” Tatsuya continued. Lisa’s eyes implied almost instant recognition. 

“Tatsu… no, Chinyan…?” She whispered, taking a cautious step backwards. Her look of recognition turned to that of skepticism, as Eikichi looked between the two of them. 

“Chinyan? I thought I was your- wait, are you saying this guy is…” He flashed blue, the gothic form of Hades appearing behind him. His expression relayed… terror. Genuine fear. Not of him, but of what him being there meant. “No, no, no. No fuckin’ way. This has to be some sort of demon trick- or some sort of Shadow. Tatsuya is either off with Jun on some honeymoon, or in another dimension. Not here, tryin’ on kiddie costumes!” 

Lisa’s lip quivered, as the divine form of Venus flashed to life behind her. “...Chinyan… Ta-chi. Please don’t be a fake.” 

That look in her eyes. There was so much hope. If he was careless, he may end up snatching it away in an instant. He closed his eyes, before summoning his own Persona. Apollo Prime shimmered behind him, before bursting to life, the store filling up with a bright light. Lisa and Eikichi shielded their eyes, before Tatsuya retracted his Persona. They stared at him for what seemed like an eternity, before Eikichi sprinted towards him. Tatsuya put up his guard, before finding himself wrapped up in a hug. He had forgotten that Eikichi was taller than him, and this was a very direct reminder. 

“Please tell me you’re the Other Tacchan…” He whispered. 

Tatsuya mumbled an affirmative, as the hug tightened. “...It’s… it’s so good to see you again.” Tatsuya didn’t know how to respond. He saw Lisa approach, carefully, before resting a hand on his bicep, and managing to choke out a noise between a laugh and a sob. 

“Ta-chi… you’re real. I… I can’t believe this. You came back to us.” 

Tatsuya fell silent, before all of the sudden twenty years worth of emotions began bubbling back up. He was so glad he was wearing a mask, if only to hide the tears. His body trembled, as Eikichi and Lisa took a step back, both of them smiling with a familiar fondness. They truly remembered him. He hadn’t meant to reawaken their old memories all those years ago, but it seemed to truly turn out for the better. He wasn’t forgotten. He still had a place- at least in their hearts. “I’ve missed you both.” He said, trying his best to keep the wavering from his voice. Eikichi chuckled, wiping at his eyes. 

“Fuck, man. You’re gonna make my mascara run.” 

Lisa elbowed him in the side, before sniffing. “You’re such an idiot, Chinyan. But… Ta-chi… how did you get here? Philemon told us you had…” 

Tatsuya nodded, sadly. “I’ve been on the Other Side for… twenty years? I tried to keep track as best as I could.” He pointed at a series of scars on his side, thousands of nicks across his body. Each one for each day. “It’s… hard to keep track other ways.” Lisa put a hand to her mouth, as Eikichi snorted. 

“Hah, I was so caught up in the emotions, I forgot to ogle your bare chest. Sorry, Tacchan.” Lisa elbowed him again, harder this time. 

“Ta-chi. Let me see your face. Please.” Lisa asked. Tatsuya froze up. He hesitated, before reaching at his mask, pulling it away, as Lisa and Eikichi both gasped in unison, staring in mild horror. He didn’t blame them. His face was marred, several scars running across his face. His right eye was squinted and burned, making its usefulness entirely questionable, and his hair was messy and much longer than it had been. He looked down. They were terrified of him. The illusion of their friend had been shattered. 

He felt a hand on his face, looking to see Lisa carefully running her fingers over the scars. The look on her face was a mixture of worry, pity, and strangely enough, pride. 

“You’re so brave, Ta-chi…” She said, slowly. Tatsuya blinked. Again, they had averted his expectations. She thumbed at the corner of his eye, catching the stray tears that the mask hadn’t soaked. “So, so brave.” His steely expression began to waver, before he caught Lisa in a hug, holding onto her like the most precious thing on the planet. Eikichi waited, not worried about jealousy or anything petty like that. Just simply happy to have his friend back. 

Once their moment was over, the three of them stood together, as Eikichi slowly sent the conversation into idle chat. 

“So… why are you wearing half of a Red Dooka costume?” 

“Dooka? They changed it from Hawk?” Tatsuya chuckled nervously. “It’s a bit childish… but one of the children compared me to Featherman. I suppose… I wanted to be that beacon of hope. For real. By dressing up as- no, this sounds even more insane when I try to explain it out loud.” 

Eikichi shook his head. “Nah. I call dibs on Yellow, though. What is it this season? Ostrich? I liked Owl better.” He walked past Tatsuya, shifting through the costumes. 

The Sun stared at Eikichi with a blank expression. “...Excuse me?” He asked, before Lisa walked past him as well, starting to find her way through the costumes. 

“Awh, they’re sold out of Feather Pink? I guess that’s inevitable when Takeba came to town. Although this ‘Feather Cockatoo’ looks kind of cute. Purple’s close enough, right Chinyan?” 

“Guess so. I think you’d look good in a Cockatoo outfit.” 

“That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.” 

Tatsuya stared at the two of them for a while longer, before clearing his throat. “What are you two doing?” 

Eikichi lazily glanced back at him, before pulling off his shirt, and starting to dress himself in the yellow sentai outfit. “Uh, if you’re going to be a hero of justice, you’ll need some help- right? So, we’re going to help.” He pulled on his mask, before tossing Tatsuya’s red mask towards him. “We’re a team. Always have been- if you’ll let us. Also, this definitely reminds me back to when we were kids. The whole… thing.” 

Lisa had found herself a spot to change away from the two men. “The Masked Circle.” She called out. “Except this time we’re going to use that name for good. For real this time.” Her voice became muffled for a moment, as she pulled on her own sentai mask. Tatsuya looked between the two of them, before scoffing to himself, and finishing putting on his own Featherman costume. The two of them were ridiculous. 

A few minutes later, Red Feather Dooka, Yellow Feather Ostrich, and Purple Feather Cockatoo stepped out of the costume shop. Eikichi rolled his neck, while Lisa cracked her knuckles, allowing their Personas to effortlessly flow from their bodies. Tatsuya pointed forwards at the wave of demons starting to head towards them, the faint outline of Apollo Prime phasing from his form. 

“Masked Circle, let’s fight like our lives depend on it!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tatsuya deserves some happy moments. 
> 
> Also- this fic is still Lisa/Eikichi. I never really thought about Lisa/Tatsuya as a ship, mainly since I'm a Tatsuya/Jun kind of guy, but I still think it's valid. Most P2 ships are valid and can work. Hence the slight 'flirting' from Eikichi.
> 
> I had to kind of work around Lisa's habit of calling Tatsuya 'Chinyan', since she moved that nickname to Eikichi as of Ground Zero, so I decided to go with 'Ta-chi' instead. Also, Eikichi calling Tatsuya 'Tacchan'.
> 
> Is this the last of the Featherman costumes? No.


	3. From the Outside, Looking In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Niijima Sae can only sit and watch as the world turns to chaos. After all, what can one do when your sister has chosen to take on the responsibility of helping others against a seemingly impossible threat?

Niijima Sae was a woman of many talents. She was known for her calm demeanor in court, her focused and logical approaches to situations, and the fact that she managed to become an elite in her field after such a short amount of time. That being said, her law degree was nothing compared to the worried calls she was sending her sister. Makoto was the one thing in her life more important than her work, and while she had some difficulty with her at times, the worry that was shooting through her body was nothing short of intense. The last text she had gotten from Makoto was a vague ‘P.T business’ after Sae had asked what her plans were. From what Sae was aware of, the Phantom Thieves had been disbanded, so if it was anything, it may have just been a small meet-up between her and her friends and teammates.

Recent newscasts had thrown that idea far into the trash, however. 

_”A recent attack on the Tokyo Kirijo Building…”_ She quickly changed the channel on the television mounted in her office, pacing around frantically. 

The next channel was broadcasting the same events. She didn’t blame them. This was quite literally the biggest event of the year. _”-A digital calling card allegedly sent by the Phantom Thieves released online claiming responsibility for the incident has been released. We will now be playing some audio from that calling card.”_

The audio began playing, and Sae instantly recognized it as Makoto’s voice. It was obviously heavily distorted. Enough so that the average person may even have some trouble discerning her gender before even thinking about her true identity. But eighteen years of living with her younger sister made it incredibly obvious. _”Kirijo Mitsuru, reigning head of the Kirijo Group. Corporate leader of arrogance, greed, and ignorance…”_ An obvious cut in the audio. It was edited, at least to some degree, but it was hard to tell if it was done by the network, or whoever submitted it. _”You claim to be acting in the face of justice, and see us as nothing more than terrorists, despite being the only one acting aggressively in this situation. So, I simply ask you this: What will you do once that 'justice' is stripped away? -You have one week before we stage our assault on the Kirijo Group. You all have hearts that need to be changed, and before you realize it, we will be out the doors with our leader and your Treasure!"_

Whether intentional or not, the audio was fully portrayed as a threat. The narrative was simple- concise- and incredibly easy for the media to follow. Kirijo Mitsuru had slighted the Phantom Thieves, and so in return they used their immense and mysterious power to destroy her building and unleash some sort of eldritch terror. The powers of the Phantom Thieves were unclear, but it wasn’t like people didn’t know they were strong. Those who had chosen to believe what happened last Christmas had seen Joker’s power- the immense ‘demon god’ he had summoned above the square. So, she could practically see all of the connections the public was building between Christmas and today. 

The news continued to prattle on, several anchors sitting in a semi-circle. _”Some people are choosing to disbelieve the idea that the Phantom Thieves are involved. We actually have a guest reporter here to give her own theories on the matter. Kusumi Mariko-san, what do you think-”_ Sae changed the channel, rubbing her temples, before picking up the phone once more. 

“Makoto, please pick up. It’s Sae. Where are you?” 

A click on the other side, before she heard Makoto’s voice. “H-hey, sis…” She sounded sheepish, and was that… a motorcycle? Several explosions were set off in the background, causing Sae to nearly drop her phone. 

“What are you doing? I thought you and your friends had finished… this!” She hissed, and practically felt Makoto flinch on the other side of the line. 

“We did! But this is different. I’m seeing a lot of reporters, though. Helicopters too. I hope we get enough paramedics to the scene fast enough-” 

Sae laughed dryly. Makoto was so smart, but she was missing the point. The media didn’t care who survived. The Phantom Thieves were back in the spotlight after years, and Makoto would have to suffer the consequences. “Makoto, come back home, now. If you and your friends get caught, the amount of legal action taken will be insane. Amamiya already got himself arrested to-” 

Another crash, and several more explosions. “I can’t run now, sis. These people need protecting. Besides, Anat is faster than any police cruiser. Once we handle the situation I’ll-” Sae’s gasped as she heard Makoto grunt in pain, and the sound of her phone clattering against the ground. Her mind shot to the worst possible scenario. She had just heard her sister die on the phone. Makoto was dead, and the police were going to dredge up her body, find out she was a Phantom Thief, and then proceed to slander her name. She turned on the television once again, finding a live broadcast of what was happening by the Kirijo Building, still unable to fully comprehend what was going on. 

The Kirijo Building had essentially vanished into a massive sinkhole into the ground, leading to some unknown area. Some people had speculated it was Hell, in order to align with the demon that Amamiya had summoned. Whatever it was, confirmation that it wasn’t part of their world happened quickly. That, and the fact that monsters seemed to be spewing out of it at an insane rate. People were fleeing in different directions, outside of a few who had decided to fight against what was going on with some sort of supernatural abilities. Makoto had explained this power to be ‘Persona’, a manifestation of one’s true self. It was hard to pick out who was down there with the grainy and shaky footage, but there had been some I.D on at least a few individuals. 

Takeba Yukari. An actress who was mainly known for her work on Phoenix Ranger Featherman was spotted summoning what the media had dubbed a ‘Demonic Spirit’ (which was much less creative than ‘Persona’, but their designs were rightfully intimidating to the common person) and creating tornado-like winds to blow the demons back. 

Hanamura Yosuke, Inaba branch head of the Junes Department Store, who while not currently summoning a spirit, did seem to have some sort of solid combat training with kunai. Him, in addition to some others that couldn’t be quickly identified, such as a dark-haired woman in a red sweater who seemed to be keeping the demons at bay with a myriad of fans, a man in a bear suit who seemed to be ripping through the invading creatures with metallic claws, a man with a baseball bat, who seemed to be able to summon a spirit of his own, and produce massively hot flames with relative ease, and strangely enough, a cat. 

Then, there were the Phantom Thieves. Or, Phantom Thief. The Phan-site had leaked codenames for the Thieves shortly after the Christmas incident: Joker, Skull, Mona, Queen, Oracle, Fox, Panther, and Noir. So, when two masked individuals were spotted fighting against the demons, it was presumed to be two of the Phantom Thieves, and then it became a mad dash to figure out which codename matched which thief. The young man in the skull mask, Sae knew as Sakamoto, was quickly identified to be ‘Skull’, and was found holding a comatose Kirijo Mitsuru and Shirogane Naoto. Both of them exhibiting signs akin to a mental shutdown. 

Far too incriminating for its own good. 

She knew Sakamoto was a good kid. A bit brash, and certainly not the type of person she would want Makoto to hang around with, but he had his heart in the right place. Still, he didn’t seem to react to being surrounded by police officers very well. Especially when he released a wave of electric energy that knocked out any sort of cameras that were focused on him, and tried to sprint away from the scene, leaving Kirijo and Shirogane to be picked up by the police and paramedics. He didn’t seem to get very far, cameras coming back online to see him tackled and shot at, stumbling to the ground before being cornered against a building, initiating a stand-off with the local law enforcement. 

The other was a teal-haired woman on some sort of ethereal bike, spewing out what could be assumed to be incredibly hot, blue fire. This was where most of the name confusion lead to. People guessed at ‘Noir’, ‘Oracle’, ‘Joker’, and ‘Queen’, unsure of which one had legitimately fit the young woman. It was only until people began to look back to the footage of the Shido calling card, and the Kirijo Calling Card where- while they were shrouded in shadow, did introduce themselves, in order to connect this mystery person’s identity with the codename ‘Queen’. Sae didn’t know if she was mad at Makoto for dying her hair, or for being part of another gigantic scandal. 

Both were pretty bad. 

Sae wasn’t one for social media, but it was good in gauging general public opinion, and reactions to this were incredibly mixed, especially online. Some immediately started to lust after ‘Queen’, even with the grainy footage being their only glimpse of her. Sae… had chosen not to look at those posts. Especially after seeing one that said ‘Please drive over me Queen-chan’. Those who hadn’t believed in the Phantom Thieves found themselves incredibly confused and shocked. Those who did found themselves justified, but confused as to what was happening. If the Phantom Thieves caused the Kirijo attack, why were they fighting the demons? Theories were running rampant. The Thieves were innocent and this was something else. The Thieves had summoned the demons, and then staged a fight against them in order to gain support. The Thieves had split apart and while half of them summoned the monsters, the others wanted to stop them. The Thieves had accidentally summoned the monsters, and couldn’t handle what they had done. Takeba’s inclusion made some even assume that none of it was real, and this was a gigantic marketing ploy to promote a crossover between Featherman and the Phantom Thieves. 

Sae heard a voice at the other end of the receiver. “Sorry, a Kaiwan ambushed me and made me drop my phone. Are you still there, sis?” 

“...Uh-” Sae held up the phone again, checking to make sure nobody was coming by her office, before speaking. “I’m still here. Please come back, Makoto. I’m sure the police can handle this, but not if they’re split between handling both you and the monsters.” 

“We both know they can’t handle something like this. And it looks like Ryuji is in trouble. I’ll talk to you soon, sis. Love you.” 

“Makoto! Makoto, don’t hang up on-” A click. “...me.” Sae wandered back to her desk. Putting her head in her hands. Why couldn’t Makoto have just stuck with student government? And if she really wanted to be in the center of scandals and world-changing affairs, actual government? That same sort of reckless judgement was what got their father killed. She sat there for a moment, before her resolve hit. She was not going to sit idly by as her sister got herself killed. Makoto didn’t have to worry about Sae in the Metaverse, but here- they were together, whether she liked it or not. She looked over at a drawer, yanking it open and pulling out a revolver, weighing it calmly in her hands. Her eyes narrowed to slits, before she stormed out of her office. One of the interns looked over at her, with a concerned glance. 

“Ah, Niijima-san. I heard it’s not safe to go outside…” The intern’s eyes slowly fell to the gun in her grip, before he took a cautious step backwards. “A-are you allowed to have that, Niijima-san?” 

“Out of my way. I’m going to pick up my sister.” Sae commanded. 

He didn’t protest, practically diving out of the way as she stormed forwards. Sae took a deep breath as she marched down the large steps of her building. “I promised Dad that I wouldn’t let you get hurt, Makoto. And this time I intend to keep all of my promises.” She burst through the doors, and quickly realized why the intern didn't want her to go outside. She stared upwards at the darkening sky, littering with multiple flying shapes. One of them flew down towards her, striking instant fear into her heart. It was gigantic, with large wings that seemed to have both the characteristics of leather, and the hard carapace of a beetle. It was covered in rough, armor-like skin, and several arms and spikes protruded from it’s head and body, grasping wildly. Dark, eyes glared down at her from a sallow, skull-like face, as it’s gigantic maw opened up, threatening to eat her. 

_”Foolish humans… they have taken thy gifts, and squandered them! Thou art no better than the idiocy of God!”_ It screamed, landing down before her. It snarled, getting closer and closer. _”I sense a resolve… yet it is restrained. Why does thou resist rebellion? Find the rules and logic of a crumbling society so… important?”_

Sae didn’t know what to say. Her arms were shaking, but she managed to aim the revolver towards the demon, trying to keep a strong face. She wasn’t going to back down in fear. “I…” Her voice shook. She paused to take a breath. “I don’t know if I should be arguing my morals with you. I need to get to my sister as soon as possible, however. So either you kill me, or get out of my way.” 

The demon laughed, _”Thou art confident. I sense a kinship between our souls, so killing thee would be a waste.”_

“If you sense a kinship between us, perhaps you can help me reach my sister? She’s near the sinkhole you and your friends emerged from.” Sae managed to get out. She felt the area around them growing colder and colder, as the gigantic demon crept closer and closer. Her heart was pounding- she was sure it was going to burst if she had to put up with this for any longer. She hadn’t even realized that her teeth were grit into a grimace, and she had been slowly backing closer to the door. 

_”Don’t be foolish, human. To think thou may wield my power? Preposterous. Thou hasn’t even found thine own purpose! Perhaps if you become stronger… no matter. I will leave thee. It seems as though thou wants to pass Judgement on those who oppose your family. Thou shall awaken to that innate rebellion soon enough.”_ The gigantic demon scoffed, before glancing at a figure approaching the two of them. The demon seemed to shy away, before flapping its multiple wings and shooting off into the sky. Sae stared up at it for a moment, before looking at the man slowly making his way towards her. 

He had a casual air to himself, sauntering towards her, although he also seemed to possess an air of majesty about him. He was wearing a black suit, with a white tie, and a blue butterfly brooch pinned over his heart. His hair was a dark blue, fairly well-kempt outside of several bangs that fell over his right eye. The most striking part however, was the mask that he wore on his face. It covered his entire face, although the left half seemed to be styled in the shape of a butterfly, protruding out to the side. Sae pointed her gun towards him, before an intense headache seemed to strike her. The closer he got, the fuzzier her mind became, almost dropping her to her knees. She forced herself to continue standing, keeping her gun aimed despite the intense shaking in her arms, before she was suddenly hit with a wave of intense clarity. 

The man chuckled, standing right before her, showing no fear in the weapon aimed at him. “Ah, you seem to possess a strong will. Walk with me, will you?” He turned around, before calmly heading towards the Kirijo Building, where all of the demons erupted into the sky. Sae walked to keep up with him- heels were not ideal for this mission she had put herself on- and proceeded alongside him. Her mind was… overwhelmingly clear, but at the same time it felt like there was a fog lording over it. It was as if she was in a painting, and could see every aspect of the land clearly. Each brushstroke, each drop of color, but once she looked into the sky it was muddled and impossible to comprehend. She was sitting between knowing exactly who she was, and not knowing who she was in the slightest. A cautious glance towards the masked man. She didn’t even know why she had followed his request so readily. One hand was clasped onto her weapon, ready to bolt and shoot at a moments notice. 

“Excuse me, but who are you?” She asked. The butterfly-masked man chuckled, before shaking his head. 

“Give me a moment. As you stand by me, and see the world around you change in an instant, I want you to do something simple.” He stopped, turning towards her, folding his arms behind his back, before bowing to her slightly. 

“My name is Philemon. Now, tell me. _Can you recall your name?_”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted this chapter to be the first real merging of 'natural' with 'supernatural'. We've gotten so many viewpoints from people who understand Personas, Shadows, and Demons, so I thought a 'normal' viewpoint from Sae would be nice. It would also be the best way to establish what the general public's opinions are on The Incident.
> 
> Also, the demon described was Satan- it's really hard to describe some of Kaneko's designs in words (hence why writing from a Persona-users view is easier, since I could just say 'Satan' and it'd work. But it does offer a fun challenge.). Still, I felt like they worked for Sae for several reasons.
> 
> Also, Phil's here! He usually changes design every incarnation, so I gave him a slight redesign here as well. A few callbacks, such as his mask being a mix of the full-face of the Revelations: Persona design, and the butterfly design from the P2 Duology. I was originally planning on giving Philemon his own chapter, or just having him show up in the Velvet Room (whenever that appears), but I feel like him casually strolling through the chaos and finding Sae would be more in-character.


	4. Izanagi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The few lucid Persona-users attempt to clean up the growing demonic threat. 
> 
> The effects of Yu's usage of the headphones finally set in.

The Edge.

That’s what everyone had begun to refer to the gaping void where the Kirjo Building used to be as. Or, moreso, the edge of the void. There hadn’t been too much debate over the name, although several of the Persona-users suggested things like ‘Death Pit’ and ‘Void Ass’, which were quickly- and luckily shot down. The few that had managed to escape had considered themselves lucky, although their survival only came with the condition that they needed to be able to tear through any and all Shadows that were escaping from the remnants of the Kirijo Building. ‘Remnants’ being a fairly generous description. The only things that signified that a building had even existed were several piles of rubble stacked around and a few employees that had been saved. Outside of that- nothing. The void that Nyarlathotep seemed to carve in the Earth was so deep, so immense, that looking inside only leads to more and more darkness. Nobody could tell where it leads to, only able to see what was coming out. 

Still, it wasn’t like everything was hopeless. Several capable Persona-users tried to stand strong, although only a select few could even access their Personas. So, any sort of advantage they may have had was down the gutter. 

That, in addition to the police force who seemed conflicted on whether to help or harm the Persona-users wasn’t helping. Especially when they had backed up one of their stronger fighters- Sakamoto Ryuji- against a wall, with several guns pointed at his head, and surrounded by too many squad cars than needed. Ryuji stood his ground, a pipe clenched in his hands, as he stared down the officers. 

“Phantom Thief! We don’t want to harm you! Just simply comply with us, and we won’t have to use lethal force!” One of the officers yelled towards the Skull-masked man, who only seemed to get more defensive in return. 

“Eff you, man! I’m not going to let you lock me up, especially when the literal effin’ apocalypse is goin’ on!” He gestured heavily towards the events going on behind him and the officers. Monsters of all shapes and sizes screeching out of the hell pit. Ryuji was more than annoyed. Of course the rotten adults were more focused on catching the Phantom Thieves and getting a pat on the back than actually helping people. “Listen, I’m gonna count to three, and once I hit three, I’m gettin’ past you guys. The thing is, do I need to force you outta the way, or will you move?” He held up one hand. “One…” 

The officers readied their weapons. 

“Two…” His Persona burst to life behind him. A powerful, ape-like Persona based off the legend of The Monkey King. It hovered on a black stormcloud, staring down at the officers with an air of majesty and cockiness. Seiten Taisei wasn’t the most intimidating, especially in comparison to the Ultimate Personas of his teammates, but to the average person? He had the element of surprise, and was somewhat happy to see that a few of the officers looked close to turning tail once it appeared. Electrical energy started to crackle around Ryuji, drawing from the cars and devices around him, and causing some of the radios and phones on the officers persons to short-circuit. Still, they weren’t budging. 

Ryuji rolled his eyes. “Dammit. Fine, three.” His Persona slammed it’s staff against the ground in a Rampage, causing several of the cars to flip over, before Ryuji sprinted through, heading back towards the group. He turned around to see the sound of sirens, grimacing. He didn’t have time to be chased around. Those Shadows weren’t going to be held off forever, especially with only three people able to use their Personas. That, and he wasn’t in the Metaverse anymore. He still needed to get his real body back into running shape. 

Officers began chasing after him, slowly gaining in on him, before something almost unexplainable happened. A wave of water seemed to burst out of nowhere, sending several of the police officers tumbling backwards. They floundered helplessly as the wave continued to push them away, before they were (almost) harmlessly washed against the side of a building. He quickly looked over to try and spot the source of the water, seeing three people in sentai costumes make their way to the makeshift battlefield. The blonde wasn’t exactly sure what to say, before both the red and the purple sentai ranger threw their hands forwards, summoning two Personas of their own. The one emanating from the purple Featherman was familiar, causing him to yell ‘Lisa-sensei?’ in confusion, before his attention snapped to the other one. 

It didn’t look physically impressive. It wasn’t big, or complex, but it did remind him of Katsuya-san’s Persona. It had the same striped pattern, and similar mask, although this time in a proud red color. Even through the small eyeholes in said mask, the powerful blue light shining from them was so intense, he felt like he might go blind if he stared at it for too long. And then it began glowing. It thrust it’s clawed, metallic hands forwards before a large sun-like ball of fire began forming. Ryuji panicked. This guy wasn’t about to hit the cops with that, was he? 

“Hang on, wait! Don’t--!” He threw his hands forwards, before it seemed like there was a… skip. In the blink of an eye, the trajectory and angle of the fireball changed, and was now rocketing upwards. Aiming at… something. He didn’t have time to think about it, as Makoto skidded next to him on Anat, panting. 

“Come on, Ryuji! We need some Mazio skills, and I think these guys can handle the back lines for now!” 

The man in the yellow Featherman costume jogged up to them, stretching. “Yeah, don’t worry. We’ll get a handle on any police interference, and try to stop any demons making their way past you. If we work together, we can get this done!” Both Ryuji and Makoto stared blankly for a moment. He sighed, lifting up the bottom of his mask. “Yes, it’s me, Eikichi. Adults are allowed to have fun too. It’s an inside jo- gah, forget it. Just let Lisa, Tacchan and I handle this.” 

“Oh, it is you. The lipstick was a dead giveaway.” Ryuji mumbled, before Makoto slammed on the gas- he wasn’t even sure if Anat had a gas pedal- before they sped back towards the source of the shadows. 

They hopped off, landing fast enough for Ryuji to strike a Nekomata with a Zio skill before it was able to attack Yosuke. The older man looked over at Ryuji with a smirk, before nodding. “Glad some of us can call out our Personas without goin’ nuts.” He commented, before shooting a glare back to the man in a bear suit. Teddie winced- which seemed extremely odd to Ryuji, since the costume seemed to work in sync with his emotions- before whining. 

“Come on, Yosuke-senpai! I didn’t know those goggles would have made me go literally bear-serk! And I’m better now? See?” He spun around, popping out a pair of metallic claws that shredded through a Decarabia, slashing it into ribbons before the shadow faded into a cloud of black smoke. Yosuke rolled his eyes, before looking over at Ryuji. 

“It’s such a pain having a mascot on the team, but he can be useful sometimes.” He said with a shrug, as Ryuji’s eyes practically lit up. 

“Tell me about it! We have this shitty cat who-” 

He felt a hand smack him on the back of the head, before turning around to see Makoto glaring at him. “Not now, _Skull_. If you didn’t notice, we have the literal apocalypse to fight back?” She gestured towards the Edge, where demons continued to spill out. Ryuji shrunk back, before giving a sheepish look to Yosuke, who chuckled. 

“Don’t worry about it, kid. Chie’s like that too.” He spun his kunai in his hands, before lunging forwards, clashing blades with a Koppa Tengu as Ryuji and Makoto made their way closer to the edge. They exchanged glances, before engaging in combat. 

“Man, Futaba would have loved to see them in those Featherman costumes.” Ryuji commented idly, before Makoto gasped. 

“Wait, Futaba! Where’s Futaba?” She yelled, before Ryuji stared upwards. He hadn’t even thought about it. He assumed that she would have fallen with the rest, but that wouldn’t have made sense, since her Persona could literally fly. Of course, as if on cue, a voice rang in through their heads. 

_”Hel… e… someth… powerful… Shadow… ?”_ Came Futaba’s voice, before a round object seemed to plummet from above, flaming before crashing into the streets of Tokyo with a resounding boom. They both knew who it was, and both of them started to make their way towards the downed Futaba before something else claimed their attention. 

The sky began to rumble, as several slivers of light seemed to drift downwards. Everyone looked up, eyes narrowed in a mix of suspicion, confusion, and potentially fear. The shadows had been coming from below. A voice rang throughout- not in their heads, but seeming to occupy the very air around them. Resounding. Deafening. Powerful. 

_“Humans are only made to contain so much power. The gift of Persona was a risky one to give freely, one that was supposed to be only handled by the light of Philemon. Philemon’s chosen, beginning with Toudou Naoya and ending with Yuuki Makoto, have long since disappeared or found themselves taking a background role. Then, the power of Persona became nothing more than a whim, gifted by beings of evil such as the immense Izanami or the corrupt Yaldabaoth. And, as the power of Persona spread, it became more dangerous. Those who wielded it’s power either found themselves pushed forwards by an intense justice, or by an unquenchable thirst for chaos._

_Narukami Yu was once one of those who strove to fight for justice. Before his hubris took the better of him._

_The tale of Narukami was a happy one. The tale of a quiet young man forced into a place where he once felt alone. The tale of a charming young man who found others like him, and began to slowly better the lives of others. The tale of an innocent young man who found himself a plaything of the gods. The tale of a selfish young man who wasn’t ready to leave the clutches of the gods, as long as it meant he had some sort of purpose. Some sort of reason to be, and to live, and to thrive in the world around him. _

_He stared at the void of darkness in its glass-adorned eyes, and was tempted to take its hand and follow it, as long as he could remain in the light. An atrocious deal. A sacreligious deal. One that he needed to be pried away from. One that he needed to be convinced was horrible. A battle with his soul, with his ideals. And the light won out, for the time being._

_The joy Narukami felt when he was called to be a part of something bigger once more was immense. Another chance to belong. Another chance to stand hand-and-hand with those who he considered his comrades. His friends. Those who he loved, those who he respected. _

_He wanted to be a hero. _

_A pair of headphones, a rather innocuous part of Nyarlathotep’s various machinations, and yet it was proving to cause the most trouble. Use of said headphones would cause the forced summoning of one’s Persona, albeit stronger and less able to be controlled. A wilder, more intense version of one’s psyche. It allowed a human to summon a god, even if they weren’t ready. The higher the intensity, the stronger the power. The stronger the power, the more their feeble human minds would slip away. _

_Narukami Yu was a fool in saviors clothing. When Nyarlathotep set his plans into action, he attempted to summon one of the strongest gods known to society. He turned those accursed headphones to their maximum, let loose an amount of power that one couldn’t even begin to fathom, and he could hardly comprehend when Nyarlathotep managed to fend him off with ease._

_‘How?’ He thought. ‘I have a power greater than all of the others. I was chosen, gifted! I was handed the power to protect my friends and allies, and now I can do nothing but watch as the universe fades away because of my hubris.’ That broke his mind even further. He collapsed to the ground, writhing back and forth, thinking that if he could simply remove the headphones, then his pain would end._

_It wasn’t enough. The amount of screaming that emitted from his person was almost enough to shatter his jaw. The salt from the tears falling from his face were almost enough to force him to blindness, and the ringing in his ears was almost enough to drive him insane._

_As if he had a mind left to lose._

_As the debris crumbled around him, what was Narukami to do? He felt the imminent stench of death coming forwards, and simply gave up. He quit, stopped struggling, and simply let it be. As if that would make anything better. So, his body became nothing more than an empty husk. An empty husk with power rumbling throughout, like a thunderstorm about to unleash upon a small town._

_And now, back to the lesson. Humanity can learn from so much, if it simply learned to keep it’s arrogance in check. But fear not. The revolution of the universe is at hand, and I have come to be a herald of it. Narukami was not a savior, but I will be in his stead. Storms only bring rain, and rain will fall upon you before you find yourselves embraced in my love once more. The Truth that you all seek is before you. Now, please don’t struggle. This wounds my soul as much as it may wound yours.”_

The sky parted, as a familiar white-haired man lowered to the ground. A katana at his hip, a tranquil expression on his face. He landed in front of the warring Persona users, as they all seemed to stop, even the shadows and demons giving him a wide berth. The white-haired man, the one formally known was Narukami Yu opened his eyes, revealing them to be a glistening gold, with blue sparks emitting from the pupils. 

_“I was once thou, but thou are no longer I.”_

He held his katana forth, first pointing it at Hanamura Yosuke, and then slowly at each and every Persona-user. None of them seemed to know what to say. Part of them wanted to assume this was a joke, that this was one last-minute gag from Yu before he got serious and joined their side of the fight. A pause, as an unseen weight began to press down, as if coming from the heavens itself. He swung his sword in a wide circle, and thousands of shadows seemed to be slashed into pieces, including the powerful one that seemed to be in the midst of pulling itself free from whatever Shadow World it came from.. A myriad of truths to counteract their myriad of lies. A sigh of relief seemed to emit from all of the humans in the area. 

Yosuke approached, tentatively. “Good work, partner. I don’t know what your plan was, exactly, but whatever it was it got rid of a good chunk of the Shadows. With you on the front lines, we can definitely stop some of those jerks from coming up here!” He held up his hand for a high five. The shell of Narukami Yu shook his head, platinum bangs swaying gently in a slowly growing wind. His tranquil expression faded slightly, before letting out a pained sigh. One akin to a disappointed parent, reluctantly about to scold their child. 

_“I am the original God.”_ He slowly sheathed the katana, bowing to the group before him. 

_“Izanagi no Okami.”_

Hardly a second passed, before the very heavens seemed to open up, bombarding the Persona-users with the thunderous, crackling wrath of the skies. It hit all of them. Ryuji seemed to shrug it off, incredibly grateful that his Persona was affiliated with lightning. When he looked around however, his friends weren’t nearly as lucky. From what he could see, Yosuke and Teddie seemed to take the worst from it, writing in pain as they dropped to the ground, clutching their heads. It seemed… familiar, in a sense, before he finally recognized where he saw that sort of intense pain before. It was just like when he and his friends awakened. His eyes frantically looked to the side, where Makoto seemed to be trapped in some sort of daze, and Anat into a state of complete stillness. He looked around, before realizing the woman in the red sweater, Lisa-senpai, and the man in the red Featherman costume seemed to be equally unfazed by the attack. 

He took a step back from Makoto, before watching with horror as Anat seemed to crumble away. The large, metallic Persona breaking down into a silver-like dust before it began to sweep and surround his friend, before slowly pressing itself into Makoto’s skin, assimilating with her. Queen began to thrash about, her teeth grit in pain. Ryuji summoned his Persona alongside him, it’s staff holding the college student at bay. His eyes narrowed, before she did something he didn’t think was possible. 

She grabbed Seiten Taisei’s staff, and lifted the entire Persona up into the air, slamming it into the ground, and giving Ryuji a massive headache. He fell backwards, before looking at Makoto, who’s expression was extremely empty, but her eyes were manic and bloodlusted. “...Queen?” He asked. 

_”Negative. Niijima Makoto was one who could not fulfil her side of the contact. Her justice, while admirable, was unable to stop the inevitable destruction of the world. She, while not one of Philemon’s chosen, was able to carve a respectable path in life, and in her stead I shall continue her work with my own brand of justice. I am thou, but thou art no longer I. I am The Destroyer. The Terror of the sands. The Salvager of Life: Anat.”_ Her voice was robotic, as she slowly approached Ryuji with stilted steps. _”While Niijima’s heart hangs heavy for what I must do, I am only fulfilling the new duty for the universe.” _

“What the hell are you talking about, Makoto? Who the hell is Philemon? Is this some kind of joke? Why the hell are things getting _more_ complicated?!” He looked around frantically, as it seemed like some of the others seemed to be in the same sort of trance. 

_”I am Takeyama Susano’o. With a heavy heart, and a warrior’s spirit, I will not waver against my Father’s wishes.”_ The words seemed to rumble from Yosuke, as he raised his katana against Yukiko. 

Another quick glance, as he watched a large wave of water seem to erupt from the ground. Blackened with some sort of dark energy, before being flung at the Red Featherman and Lisa-sensei. He winced, backing up some more, before bumping into Izanagi-Narukami. 

_”It seems some of you were able to resist your true awakenings. What a shame. I would much rather you be part of the new world, then to watch it burn, but unfortunately things do not always go to plan.”_ He folded his arms, shaking his head sadly before pacing back and forth. _”Well, I must not err. You will die here, but your true soul will be released again.”_ Ryuji wanted to saw something, but was quickly lifted off the ground my Anat-Makoto, who seemed to have gotten much stronger. In the few seconds that passed, her features seemed to change somewhat. Her hands colder, her eyes turning a murky black. Almost like a robot. He tried to break her grip, before summoning his Persona in a desperate rage, throwing forth a Ziodyne that struck them both, sending them both flying away from the edge. They landed next to the Teddie costume, deflated and empty, before Ryuji stumbled to his feet, unholstering his model shotgun and holding it like a baseball bat, ready to fight. 

“Sorry, asshole. I’m not plannin’ on dyin’ today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know that secret boss from Persona Q?  
_yeah._


	5. Awakening of the Joker

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren wakes up to find a familliar face, and discovered a disgusting truth about the former familiar faces in his life.

**Location: The Other Side (Post-Conception), Time: Unknown.  
**

* * *

* * *

Ren felt a hand lightly smacking against his face. It was repetitive, irritating, but it also felt like every bone in his body was on fire. He tried to recall what had happened before. That being… Nyarlathotep. It had taken over the Kirijo Group from the inside, manipulated everyone into following its orders. They had been played like puppets, thrown along a false pretense of choice, when the turnout was inevitable. Total destruction. His eyes slowly opened, his vision blurry. Partially because of his glasses being absent, and partially due to the fact that he seemed to be in the midst of the worst concussion possible. 

He stared up at the source of the slapping, as his vision began to slowly clear. He was staring eye-to-eye with a young man about his eyes. Long, unkempt brown hair framed the face in front of him. Dark, auburn eyes. A smile that seemed to just barely tread the line between friendly and devious that could only belong to… 

Akechi? 

“Amamiya-san? Are you alive? Blink once if yes.” The detective asked in a faux-jovial tone, as Ren groaned, rolling over on his side and closing his eyes once more, ignoring the voice. He was either dead, or hallucinating. In the case of him possibly being dead, it probably wasn’t a good thing that he ended up in the same place as the Traitor. He heard a dejected sigh come from the brown-haired man, as he stood up slowly, Ren slowly opening one eye and trying to discreetly get a better look at his former teammate. 

Akechi was sporting a new outfit, it seemed. While it was very much in the style of his ‘Crow’ disguise, it was a slick black color, purple highlights along it. The frilled shoulder accessories had become more armored and dangerous. He wasn’t wearing his mask, but a closer inspection could see it clasped in his hands. Akechi’s eyes seemed to snap over to Ren’s, giving him a wary smile. 

“Hello, old friend.” 

Ren scoffed, sitting up. “You’re dead.” He said, in a matter-of-fact tone of voice. It was harsh, but it wasn’t like he was going to waste his time dancing around the extremely obvious point. Goro Akechi had died within the confines of Shido’s Palace. Futaba had basically confirmed it. And the chances of him just… leaving the Metaverse without them knowing? His brow furrowed slightly, as Akechi reached a hand towards him, smiling still, although this one felt more sincere. 

Then again, all of the others had too. 

“I’m sure you have many questions about me being here. They’ll be answered, soon.” Akechi promised. Ren reached out, taking Akechi’s hand as he was pulled up to his feet. He winced a bit, but the pain seemed to be slowly fading. He didn't know if he was just recovering quickly, or if Akechi had any healing spells on him. Maybe a mixture of both. The former detective giving him a light pat on the shoulder, before lightly brushing off some debris that had clung to his outfit. Ren looked at his shoulder, before his eyes widened slightly. His normal clothes had shifted back into his Phantom Thief garb, apparently without his knowing. They felt… different, though. The normally red accents on his costume had turned a dark purple, matching Akechi’s. That was… worrying. He didn’t want to be any more similar to Akechi than the detective had claimed back on the cruise ship. Whatever amusement he expected Akechi to find in the situation, however, had either passed- or Akechi simply didn’t find it as funny. He was staring at Ren’s face with a scary amount of focus, before one hand quickly lashed out, gripping at the bottom of his chin- inspecting him. Ren smacked Akechi’s hands away, the detective having the gall to look shocked, as if he wasn’t expecting it. 

“Sorry, Amamiya-san-” Akechi began. 

“Just call me Ren.” The dark-haired boy snapped back, rubbing at his jaw slightly. 

“Sorry… Ren. It’s just that- I needed to make sure you weren’t a Shadow, or anything else malevolent. Normally I thought I could tell via their eyes, like Shido or Sae-san. But I think in this… realm, wherever we are, that doesn’t seem to be the case. The eyes of Shadows seem to be dulled, I’d go as far as to say that they have a reddish tint, but it’s practically impossible to tell without further inspection and-” 

Ren waved his hands, motioning for Akechi to stop so he could at least take a second to process everything. Another realm? Shadows? Just a second ago he had been at the top of the Kirijo building, fighting. And then… he mentioned something about a Grand Cross? After that, everything was blurry. He just remembered a bright light and everyone and everything collapsing. 

His eyes widened. His friends. He quickly turned to Akechi. “Everyone, are they…” 

“I had a feeling you’d ask that.” He walked over to a small bundle of supplies, and picked up a red mask. Panther’s mask. “I had found Ann’s body not far from the… conception point? Wherever our world collided with this Other… world. She was limp. Certainly dead. I took off her mask and tried to keep it with me, before I was attacked.” 

“Attacked?” Ren asked, pushing the conversation along. 

“She seemed to snap back to life, almost instantly. I at first thought she was a shadow, but her eyes weren’t a malevolent yellow, they were that same innocent blue. Almost, I suppose. They looked off, slightly discolored. Either way, she at first tried to seduce me. Convince me to join her and the others using that… outfit of hers.” He chuckled, wryly. “To be perfectly honest, it almost worked. I guess that’s simply the man in me.” 

Ren raised an eyebrow, slowly thinking of a way to pull the conversation away from Akechi’s options on Ann’s thief outfit. “That definitely doesn’t sound like her. Our Ann isn’t ‘seductive’ in the slightest.” 

“But it was her. Something was extremely wrong, but she was almost like an entirely different person.” Akechi continued. “Something about the creatures here are...” 

“...Horrifying.” Ren whispered. He rubbed at his eyes, slightly. Ann was dead, and somehow replaced by her Shadow? Who went around trying to slander the name of one of his first friends in Tokyo? Something in him burned, angrily. The very thought disgusted him, as he folded his arms. “I… why should I believe you? You’re not exactly the most honest person around.” 

“I don’t expect you to believe me. I would be happy if you did, but any sort of suspicions you have are justified. I hurt your team, your friends, and especially you. I’ve had the blood of countless people on my hands, because I simply couldn’t fathom the idea of teamwork.” He looked down, dejectedly. Dark rings under his eyes more apparent. Ren hadn’t payed it much notice, but Akechi must not have gotten any sleep. If he even needed to sleep. Ren had a myriad of theories slipping and bouncing around his mind, and none of them seemed to add up or make much sense. But this was… real. He held Akechi’s hand, felt that they were warm. Alive. Human. The how was seemingly impossible, but he couldn’t deny his senses. 

Ren decided to ask a slightly less harsh question. “Where’s my mask?” 

Akechi blinked. “...Pardon me?” 

“My mask. I’m dressed as Joker, but I don’t have my mask.” He gestured to his bare face. Akechi raised his brows, before shuffling over to where he had retrieved Ann’s mask. After a few seconds, he raised a hand, his signature mask within his grasp, although it seemed to be tinted a dull purple. Ren sighed, before taking it out of Akechi’s hands, and slowly slipped it on his face. 

It was… uncomfortable. It felt slick, almost like it didn’t fit. The mask served as a connection for him and the Persona Compendium, a link where he could summon any Persona with ease. And yet, it was like his entire Compendium had been emptied out. The only things left were Arsene, and a severely weakened Satanael. That, and the remnants of… something. Something new. 

His thoughts were cut off as a series of heavy, flapping wings approached them. He and Akechi turned towards the distance, as a group of flying figures seemed to fly overhead. They circled around them, like vultures, before one of them flew towards the ground. It was a woman with blonde hair, the only thing signifying her lack of humanity being the snow white wings adorned on her back. Her wings flapped idly, as she looked between the two Persona-users- or at least Ren could assume she was looking, it was hard to tell with the black bandanna over her eyes. The Angel locked gazes with Ren, and seemed to be transfixed on the mask. Beckoned towards it. 

_”My soul is your soul. Let me guide you once mo-”_ Her voice was cut off, as Akechi gripped a slab of debris and smashed it against the Angel’s face, sending her flying backwards, hitting the ground his a heavy thud as her body began to convulse into a dark cloud. 

“Don’t trust these monsters, Ren.” He hissed, as the other Angels got aggressive, starting to circle around them faster, as several of them scratched and aimed attacks at the two of them. The bright light of Hama magic flashing towards them, dizzying. Akechi rolled his shoulders back, before slowly sliding on his mask, before ripping it off his face with a dramatic flourish in the same motion. “Persona!” He yelled, as a flash of energy shot out from his body. 

Ren stared in awe as Akechi’s Persona began to take shape. 

Akechi’s Persona was… different. It wasn’t the strong, pseudo-heroic form of Robin Hood, with bright white coloration and a superhuman gleam. It wasn’t the dark, chaotic form of Loki either, made up of harsh stripes and a constant dark frost dripping off of its body. This was new. A slim, humanoid form shimmered in front of the Shadows. Half of its body was a beautiful white, glistening, while the other half was made up of a horrifying, dark coloration. It’s bottom half was pockmarked with something akin to suction cups, and two pairs of bat-like wings sprouted from the back of its thighs. It’s feet seemed to be a mixture of animalistic pads and high heels, giving it an extra bit of height that seemed unnecessary. It briefly turned it’s head to the left, staring back at Ren. One piercing dark eye glared at him, seeming to bore into it’s very soul, before turning back to face the attackers, before throwing it’s head backwards with a roar, letting loose a burst of blinding energy. 

The shadows seemed to be evaporated instantly, and they were left in silence again. Ren took a cautious step back, hands on his own mask, ready to re-awaken Arsene in a moments notice. “What… was that?” 

Akechi turned around, before smiling sheepishly. “Well… it’s new, as you could have guessed. I had taken to calling it Joker-Loki. Something about it felt… right, persay. Although, this may be a result of your new climate. Perhaps your Persona had changed as well?” He gestured towards the mask that was adorned on Joker’s face. “I’d rather find out now then be surprised when we go to take vengeance for your friends.” He seemed disappointed at Ren’s blank expression. 

He ripped off the mask, and was surprised to feel an entirely new brand of pain. He heard Arsene’s voice speaking to him, deep and confident, although there also seemed to be a feeling of reluctance and stiffness. 

_”A bond? One would simply perceive this was renewing a contact, and yet this is so much more… do you accept me into your heart, wholly so? Or do you dare to resist, dare to counteract the inevitable?”_ Ren gripped at his head, stumbling backwards. He fell onto the ground, starting to convulse, before letting out a pained scream of affirmation. The pain seemed to subside, only somewhat. _”Perfect…”_ The voice deep in his mind cackled. _”Let your mind wander, as we regain justice upon those who had wronged you! Your friends had betrayed you within your darkest hour, and yet you felt sympathy for Ann when her death was reported to you.”_

Ren was confused. 

His memory seemed to fill in the gaps, presenting everything to him clear as day. Him, Kanji, Haru, Ann, Makoto, that robot-girl, and that pop star- Kujikawa Rise- had all been at the apex of the Kirijo Group’s Tokyo Building as Nyarlathotep revealed himself. 

* * *

_The beast was speaking to them, as the features of its face began to melt away, slowly fading away into nothing, just leaving a smooth palette- the only remaining details being that of Mitsuru’s red hair framing the blank face._

_“Please, call me Nyarlathotep..” It said simply, ducking out of the way of a fireball. Ren watched as Ann pulled herself to her feet, as the fires of Hecate began whipping around her at a ferocity he hadn’t expected from his teammate. This was the type of strength that he had seen during their fight with Yaldabaoth. A fully awakened Persona- the real sign that her force of will had gone into full bloom. Ann threw her hand forwards, her pigtails whipping around by the growing force of her attack. Her Persona lunged forwards, the two beasts it held on chains starting to vibrate and bounce uncontrollably before bursting into a violent flame. He got a look at her eyes, as they flashed the same Shadow-esque yellow upon awakening, before she cackled, placing a hand on her hip._

_“A year… one agonizing year interloping with such fools.” She chuckled,two fireballs forming within orbit of her Persona. Ren stared at her, confused, before the fireballs shot towards him, slamming into his body and sending him writhing on the ground._

_“Ann…” He whispered. “What are you talking about? Why are you fighting me?”_

_She rolled her eyes, placing a hand on her hip, as Haru and Makoto approached her sides, all three of them staring at him with contempt in their eyes. “The power of the Wild Card was too dangerous.” Ann began. “So, Lord Nyarlathotep entrusted us with such great power in order to make sure that you grew only according to his desires. He puppeteered Shido, forcing him to commit those acts. Beforehand he had been one of the only honest politicians, believe it or not.” She laughed, before lazily pointing her finger towards him, as he was lit up by another barrage of fire magic. He lay on the ground in pain, as Makoto approached him, kicking him in the stomach._

_“You’d have to be an idiot to think that something as ridiculous as ‘The Phantom Thieves’ would take the world by storm. Especially for an entire year? Do you know how quickly trends die out, and how many times we narrowly ‘escaped’ from being caught?” The brown-haired girl kneeled down next to him, giving him a pitying expression. “Oh my god. You actually believed that a bunch of dumbshit teenagers were capable of that sort of thing? How stupid are you?”_

_He struggled to stand up. “But… Yaldabaoth… Morgana… Igor…” He was stopped by a hand gripping his face, slamming him back into the ground. Makoto stood up, before spitting on him._

_“Idiot. Do I have to spell everything out for you? You were an experiment for Lord Nyarlathotep. All of the ‘Wild Cards’ were his doing, because he is all-mighty and all-powerful. You were nothing more than a test. He is the Supreme, and now you’ve disappointed him. So, you’ll die now. That is true Justice. Be grateful.”_

_Ren still didn’t get it. This all seemed insane, wildly out of character. The people he knew for an entire year. The people who he had bonded with over coffee and hot-pots. They were just overdressed babysitters for him, as a God played with him like he was some sort of doll? Those times in the gym with Ryuji, the church with Yusuke, going to the lake with Ann… did none of that matter? Was gardening with Haru meaningless? Hours spent studying with Makoto? He grimaced, as he struggled to sit up once more, before being slammed with a wave of nuclear energy. _

_He hit the wall, before standing up. “You all… can’t be serious!”_

_The blonde rolled her eyes, before starting to conjure up another Agidyne. “Either get the hint or die already, ‘Renren’. You’re nothing. Nyarlathotep is everything. Hell, even if we did kill you, would it even make a difference? Like, nobody ever truly loved you in the first place.” She commented with a giggle._

_Haru stepped forwards, her eyes glazed over, a peaceful smile on her face. “All isn’t lost, however. He will recreate the world to be beautiful over your ashes. Goodbye, Amamiya-kun. If it means any solace, it was certainly entertaining pretending to care about you.”_

_Nyarlathotep chuckled. “Look at that, the power of the ‘new generation’. Friendly fire upon friendly fire. Thieves built upon a palace of lies. Contradiction over contradiction. You care so much about the well-being of others, but you hardly think about working as a team before attacking.” They laughed, walking over and grinding their heel onto Ren’s chest, before kicking him away with an unprecedented amount of force. Ren struggled to stand up, as Nyarlathotep began to cast his spell, before the world was filled with the sound of a thousand thunderstorms, and a blinding flash of light._

* * *

* * *

Were those… his memories? Did his friends truly betray him?

That didn’t make sense. 

And yet… it all felt so real. His wounds. That sinking feeling of betrayal. As much as he wanted to doubt his memory, would it truly be so vivid and so intense if it was wrong?

It hurt. He had spent so much time with them! They were with him for a year and yet… he had been manipulated, tricked. Over and over again- he had been nothing but a pathetic pawn for god after god. He wasn’t going to be played like a fool once again. Never again. A rage seemed to bubble up from the depths of his soul, as the voice in the back of his head continued to speak. Distorting, becoming more sinister, more furious, willing to watch as the true Joker surged forth. _”So, do you resist now? The remainders of your ‘friends’ are here. They killed, murdered, stomped on your ideals. Push forwards, and show them the true meaning of your rebellion!”_ He couldn’t agree more. He was tired of rotten, lying adults. He was tired of rotten, lying gods. And he was sick of this rotten, lying world that he was forced to be a part of! 

Ren roared, as his Persona surged forth. Arsene climbed out of the depths of the sea of souls, his normally red flames a deep purple, and several tendrils shooting out of his back. The Persona clawed its way forth, as Akechi stared with a pleasant smile on his face, before sending out a wave of cursed energy over the horizon. 

The two new-generation Wild Cards stood side by side, as Joker flexed his hands within his gloves. He felt stronger, more capable of enacting his revenge. That entire year in Tokyo had been nothing but lies. False ideals, false friends, false scenarios. They were all pawns of Nyarlathotep, and he had been foolish enough to think that they were his friends. His _equals_. He stepped forwards, as Akechi rubbed a hand on his back. 

“Are you okay, Ren? You seemed to be a bit pained for a moment.” He asked, calmly. 

Ren nodded, before the power seemed to swell up inside him again, a burst of purple and yellow energy surrounding him. It dissipated in a flash, steaming away as it filled the ground around him, like a fog machine on a stage. He stared forwards, the eyes beneath his mask becoming a deep red as he grinned. 

“I’m more than okay. Get your things ready. It’s Showtime, Akechi.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are ramping up kind of quick, but that's because you all had 'Ground Zero' to get comfortable. Now's when the fun starts.


	6. Sumaru Cit-hee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rule of 'never split the party' has been severely broken, and Maya and a few others are trying to pick up the pieces before it has any long-lasting concequences.
> 
> Featuring: Jack Frost.

Maya took a second to assess the situation. She looked around the damp, dark area that she and a few others were trapped in. She was apparently the first one to wake up, but she wasn’t incredibly surprised. After all, she’d taken worse. But to think, after so many years… Nyarlanthotep was back? She rolled her shoulders back, before attempting to summon her Persona. She expected to see the shining, metallic form of Artemis burst forth, chilling the cage that they were in with an intense power, and yet… it wasn’t. The Persona was familiar, a ripple of pink fabric as a shy, beautiful form emerged from her person. Her eyes widened slightly. “Maia?” That wasn’t right. Maia could barely pull off a ‘bufu’, which could probably break them out, but it wouldn’t be able to defend them in this sort of environment. She slowly pushed herself up to her feet, as the beautiful Persona fizzled out of sight. She lightly nudged the girl beside her, Chie, hoping to wake her up. The bowl-cut haired girl snorted, mumbling something about meat before rolling over. Maya nudged her harder.

“Hrnk… Yukiko… no… no more ‘fsteak- huh?” Her eyes fluttered open, before looking up at Maya with a concerned look. She slowly sat up, rubbing at her eyes. “What’s going on? Where are we?” Maya put a finger to her lips, motioning for Chie to be quiet. 

“Check your Persona.” The dark-haired woman whispered. 

Chie raised an eyebrow, before closing her eyes, focusing as a form shimmered out of her body. Yellow, clad in something akin to a motorcycle uniform. Chie seemed bothered, as the form blinked out of existence, and she looked down at her hands with a concerned look. “No way… Tomoe? Why the heck do I have my baby Persona?” She said with a whisper, before Maya groaned, sitting down next to Chie. This was a problem. A serious one. 

“Darn it, Nyarly. How did you manage to pull off some crap like that?” She asked with a whisper. The fact that he was back was upsetting enough, but rendering her and presumably everyone else back to their base states? Maybe it was some sort of suppression technique? But her Persona was the manifestation of her soul, and she didn’t feel any different as a person. Except for helpless, and scared, and the fact that she was practically powerless in a place where they could be killed at any moment. Sweat started beading down her forehead, as she rubbed at her eyes, before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over to see Chie giving her a worried look. Chie opened her mouth to speak before Maya plastered on a smile, chuckling. “Come on, smile! Let’s think positive! We can definitely find a way out of this!” The words came out almost automatically, like someone had pushed ‘play’ on a tape recorder. She looked over as two other figures started to rustle awake, groaning. 

Ann clutched her head, slowly sitting up, before staring at the two women across from her. “Are you okay, Ann? You’re not hurt, are you?” Maya asked, as the blonde haired girl shook her head. 

“I’m fine, Maya-sensei. Just… weak. Dizzy.” She took in a sharp breath, as the last form in the room slowly began to rise up. A large man, that Chie instantly hurried over to check up on. 

“Kanji! Are you okay?” She asked, shaking him wildly. His eyes went wide as he coughed, before Chie stopped shaking him, his eyes practically spinning before he leaned against the back of the cage. 

He held back a hurl, before sighing. “Ugh… I feel like I’ve got the worst fuckin’ migrane… I’d need some tea, stat…” He mumbled, before looking around at the cage. “But that don’t look like it’s happenin’ soon. So, uh…” He looked at Ann, and then over at Maya. “Are these your friends, Chie?” Ann scooted back slightly, before Chie gave them a reassuring look. 

“Don’t be scared of Kanji, ladies. He’s gay.” She said, carelessly. His face went red, before glaring at Chie. 

“No I ain’t! I’m datin’ Naoto, ain’t I?! You can’t just go around callin’ me gay!” He yelled, as Chie chuckled, lightly patting him on the shoulder. The two of them began bickering amongst themselves for a moment, as Maya tensed up, hearing the rustling of cloth coming their way. No footsteps, just cloth. Warmth seemed to fill up the small room they were in, before a Pyro Jack appeared on the other side of the steel bars they were trapped behind, it’s lantern adding a little bit more light in the dim room. 

_”Hee, kee-heep it down, ho! You hee-humans are so loud, they’ll ne-hee-ver be able to sell you ho’s!”_ It squeaked, as the four of them stared at the Jack for a moment. Chie clenched her fists, before holding out her hands, Tomoe bursting forth and firing a bufu at the demon. It struck it in the head, before shaking it off and laughing. _”Hee! You hee-humans are funny! What a ne-hee-t little trick! Maybe that’ll boost your price!”_ It laughed, before rustling away, the light of it’s lantern drifting off into the darkened hallway. It at least had the decency to leave the door open this time, before Maya glared at Chie. 

“There’s no time to be fighting. We’ve been weakened. We’re going to need to do some negotiating.” She explained, as the three younger Persona users stared at her as if she was insane. The only one that seemed to have some idea of what to do was Ann, and even she seemed a little bit confused. 

“Uh, Maya-sensei? Wouldn’t we need to, like, weaken them to the point where we can hold them up? Then negotiate?” She asked, idly playing with her hair. Maya blinked, before sighing. 

“What? No. Do you hold everyone at gunpoint when you try to talk to them?” Maya asked. Ann shook her head, prompting Maya to continue. “Demons are just like people. You find out what they like, dislike, all that. Then you work out an agreement. It’ll be easy. Or, as one of those guys might say, ‘eas-hee’!” She smiled, before banging on the bars. “I’ll try and get one of them to come over, and then you guys try negotiating. Think of it as one more lesson from Maya-sensei!” She banged on the bars with a bit more intensity, as the Pyro Jack slowly floated back to them. 

_”Jeez, you ho’s are loud…”_ It mumbled. Maya gestured towards Ann and Chie, prompting them to start. Ann seemed to at least catch the concept on quickly, shuffling up to the bars. 

She smiled at the demon, already causing it to blush slightly. “Come on, Mr. Warden. Could you really sell some girls like us off? We’d never hurt a fly, and we’d probably be useless to anyone else!” She reasoned. The Jack seemed to pause, before Chie slowly and awkwardly shuffled up to the Jack as well. 

“Uh, yeah! Plus, it’s totally uncool to be mean to girls, right?” The Jack stared blankly at her, before it’s hollow eyes went wide. 

_”You’re a girl, ho?!”_ It screamed, causing Chie’s cheeks to flare up red. 

“Of course I’m a girl! Jerk!” 

Kanji snorted. “It’s no use, demon. She’s gay.” He called out, lounging near the back of the cell. Chie groaned, before the Jack rubbed it’s chin, thinking. Maya watched with mild amusement and curiosity, before shuffling around her pockets. She fished out a ten-yen coin, before holding it out to the Jack. “How’s this to sweeten the deal, huh?” 

The demon’s eyes lit up. _“Real hee-human money! Alright, maybe you thr-hee aren’t that hee-bad! I’ll hee-save you lovely ladies, and hee you girls out of here!”_ He opened up the door to the cage, before Maya, Ann, and Chie stepped out. The Pyro Jack chuckled, before swinging it’s lantern happily. Kanji watched with mild confusion, before asking the obvious question. 

“Wait, what the hell is gonna happen to me?! Are you three seriously ditching me?” He cried out, the three women looking between each other, before shrugging. The Jack cackled, clearly enjoying this situation, swinging it’s lantern happily. _”Hee-hee! I already heard that hee-humans were ho-heartless, but this is hee-larious, ho!”_ The Jack laughed, before slowly escorting the three of them away, as Kanji banged on the door to the locked cage with a shrug. Maya looked over at Chie, who returned the glance with a nod. They started slowing down slightly, trailing behind the fire demon before the forms of Maia and Tomoe shimmered into existence. Maya snapped her fingers, as her Persona shot out a small burst of ice, knocking it in the back of the head. The Jack turned around, confused, before Tomoe drove it’s spear through it’s robes, pinning it to the wall as it flailed about wildly, clearly confused. 

“Ann, go get Kanji, and then we need to get out of here!” Maya ordered, the blonde girl nodding and jogging back to the cage, opening it up to the taller man. He stretched, before chuckling wryly as he shook his head. He and Chie lined up in front of the Jack, cracking their knuckles. 

“So, where we’re from, we don’t really negotiate.” Chie said, another spear forming within Tomoe’s grasp. 

“So, it seems like we’re gonna do it our way. You’re about to be in a hee-ll of a lot of pain, or you’re gonna lock your ass back in that cage and give us a headstart.” Kanji rumbled, the form of Take-Mikazuchi bursting to life behind him, spinning it’s giant thunderbolt-shaped weapon. The Jack’s gaze darted between the two humans, clearly afraid. 

_”I-I knew you hee-humans were dangerous! That’s why you ho’s were supposed to be extinct except for the Sun!”_ It wailed. _”Well, no way I’m kne-hee-eling down to you!”_ It screamed, flinging it’s lantern towards Ann, causing her leather thief outfit to catch fire. Maya quickly turned to her, worried, but her concern started to wane as Ann seemed to try and shrug it off, wincing but still patting away the flames. She grimaced, before nodding towards the two Investigation Team members, summoning Carmen as well. 

“Oh, I know this part!” Ann said, bracing herself. Chie and Kanji chuckled, raising both of their fists, preparing to strike. 

“Now’s our chance! Hiyaah!” 

“Time for a beatdown! Bastard!” 

Maya stared on in with a mix of slight horror, pity for the demon, and pride as the three younger Persona-users wailed on the smaller demon, their attacks practically leaving a smoke cloud as the only thing left of the creature was a snuffed-out lantern. The three of them exchanged high-fives, before looking over at Maya. Ann giggled, before gesturing for them to continue down the hallway. “Okay, Maya-sensei! Let’s get moving!” She started running down the hall, the others following her closely. Suddenly, the cat-suited girl darted to wall, almost fading into the shadows. They made out the faint gesture for them to follow suit, as they all attempted to stick close to the walls and shadows, staying low. 

“My turn for a lesson.” Ann whispered. “The Phantom Thieves are used to sneaking around places like this. I mean, with all the shadows- erm, demons? With all of those guys, this is basically a Palace to begin with. Just follow my lead, and we shouldn’t be spotted.” Maya was actually pretty impressed. She hadn’t seen any of the Phantom Thieves actually… do Phantom Thieving upfront, just flail around their immensely powerful Personas. But this made sense. Before they were able to just strike down any Shadows they came across, they’d need to compensate for their lack of strength with an additional burst of stealth. Maya smiled to herself, before chuckling. 

“This would only be more fitting if we had outfits like yours.” She commented, as Ann shook her head, her eyes still darting up and down the hallway before motioning for them to follow as she darted- practically teleported- to the next shadowy area over. Maya’s eyes widened. Since when was Ann that fast? She certainly wasn’t an unathletic girl, but those speeds were practically superhuman. No way that it was natural. Unless… Nyarlathotep had mentioned something about the ‘Other Side’. Maybe it had some additional effects on everyone that they hadn’t noticed. She paused, before lightly gasping, tapping Kanji’s shoulder. 

“Your Persona.” 

He blinked. “...Uh, yeah?” 

“You summoned your Persona with ease. Have you been training?” 

His eyes widened. “Holy shit! I didn’t notice!” He yelled, as Chie elbowed him, and Ann made a shushing motion with her finger. “It’s like back in the TV world. Eh, Chie?” He looked over at her, who seemed to be following his reasoning. Maya had no idea what a ‘T.V World’ was, but it clearly had some connection back to their powers. 

The three of them continued to converse, before Ann quickly whispered ‘hide!’, and seemed to entirely vanish from sight. The three other Persona-users stared in confusion before diving either in different rooms or cramming themselves more into the shadows, as three Jack Frosts seemed to march in, looking around, before starting to converse amongst themselves. 

_”I hee-told you there was nothing!”_

_”I could have swo-ho-rn I hee’d something, ho…”_

_”A Pyro was sent to bully some hee-humans. Hee was probably just causing trouble.”_

_”Makes sense, ho. Anyways, these hee-humans aren’t a threat. The-hee Cloud is the scary one…”_

_”I still think it was stupid to split them up by ‘th-hee-reat levels’. We’ve got 4 hee-ing cages on 4 different ho’s! I mean, floors!”_

_”Je-hee-z. Stop expositing, ho! There’s not a probl-hee-m hee’re, so let’s move!”_

After a few moments, they jogged away, prompting the four Persona users to escape from their hiding spots. Kanji stumbled out of a closet, Chie slowly stood up from a shadowy corner, Maya peeked out from another room, and Ann seemed to materialize out from the shadows, like she had practically faded into them. She put a hand on her hip, frowning. “Jeez, guys. Next time be more careful. We can’t risk fighting demons right now. Not with our power, or our numbers.” 

“Is anyone else kind of offended by how we weren’t deemed as threats? Like, I don’t know who this ‘Cloud’ is, but how are they better than us?” Chie commented, as Maya put a hand to her chin, thinking. 

“I don’t know, but it sounds like any allies we have are split up into different floors. The higher we go, the stronger the ally. It’s arbitrary, but it might be worth checking it out.” 

Kanji cleared his throat. “Uh, anyone got any idea who the ‘Sun’ is? It seems like they’ve taken to nicknaming humans that are actually important or somethin’, but like… is this ‘Sun’ the last human here? And where are we?” 

“I have an idea about where.” Maya said, calmly. “But we might need to investigate a bit more if we want to find out ‘who’. Let’s see if we can find another person to help us, and then try and gather information. Lead the way, Ann-chan.” She gestured towards the youngest girl, who began leading them down the shadows. Ann’s swift movements were hard to replicate at first, but then the more that they felt like Thieves shifting through a ‘Palace’- as Ann had called it- the faster and smoother their movements became. She was still the most used to it- a few of them had slammed into walls the first times they had tested out their growing speed, and none of them could blend into the walls as well as she could, but it seemed like their skills grew as their confidence and cognition that they could actually keep grew as well. 

This building seemed to be the remnants of an old office. The hallways were dark and monotonous, and there didn’t seem to be much flare outside of a few empty vending machines. Kanji had checked every single one of them, before Chie noted that even if there was soda, it probably wasn’t going to be very good. Eventually, they reached a flight of stairs, which they couldn’t sneak up with ease, so they resorted to climbing them at a normal pace. Ann seemed confident, staring at her hands. “Wow, so this place is really like the Metaverse. I hadn’t even really noticed, but this is definitely my regular Thief outfit, and not the one Eikichi-sensei made for me. I can tell because the ‘boob window’ is back.” She sighed, tiredly. “Well, at the very least it’ll make negotiations easier.” They continued to make their way upwards, before hearing some commotion going down an intersection in the hallway they had just walked into, watching as several Jack’s stumbled out, running the other direction. 

_”Get hee-inforcements! The Cloud is loose!”_ They screamed, as another Jack was slammed into the wall with a flash of energy. The four Persona users looked at each other, before slowly heading towards the intersection, any signs of sound fading after one more Jack Frost was turned into a cloud of black smoke. They were all reasonably worried, before hearing a malicious giggle as their footsteps got closer. Maya summoned her Persona, and the others followed suit. 

“More? It’s been so very long since I’ve had a good fight. I just wish I could cut you down with my-” 

Ann’s eyes widened, as she dashed around the corner, gasping. “Haru! Haru, it’s us!” The other three walked cautiously around the corner to see an auburn-haired girl in clothing fitting of a 19th century musketeer. A black mask adorned her face, and several burns and bits of snow clung to her clothing. Her aggressive posture quickly shifted to something more demure, as she ran over to hug Ann. 

“Oh, Ann! I am so glad you’re okay! I was so scared that you all were hurt, or worse, dead!” She cried, as Ann hugged her back. 

“God, same! I thought you were a goner! But wow, you really…” She turned around, watching where the demons had fled. “...Man, you can be scary.” She mumbled with a grimace. 

Haru giggled. “Oh, don’t be mean, Ann-chan! I was just defending myself! But now we’re back together!” She waved at the other three adults behind them, as they stared on with mild awe. 

“I think I understand now, or at least have a theory.” Maya commented. “We’re grouped up with how well those demons can handle us. Since Ann, Chie, and I have both ice and fire affinities, they felt like they could take us with ease. I’m not… entirely sure why Kanji was with us, but Haru has psychic skills, correct?” 

“Mhm!” The curly-haired girl confirmed. “Although I’m definitely running out of them… I’ve been using them like crazy, and they’ve all been pretty weak since my Astarte shifted back to Milady. Honestly, if she didn’t have guns, I’d be a dead woman!” She chirped, with an excitement that none of them could really relate to. Maya smiled a bit. At least she was trying to keep her tone positive, even if her words didn’t exactly match. 

Kanji raised his hand. “Uh, your Persona has guns? What the hell? And that aside, didn’t you get, like, absolutely obliterated by Nyarlathotep?” 

Haru shrugged. “I… I’m actually a bit confused about that myself. I have to assume that those shadows healed my wounds while I was captured.” She tried to reason. “They mentioned something about selling, so I think they may have wanted me in the best condition possible…” 

Ann nodded. “And in regards to the whole ‘gun’ thing, I guess everyone’s Persona has an affinity for different things. Although Milady is awesome! I definitely liked the way she looked better than Astarte. So elegant, and then- pow! Showering shadows with bullets!” The two teenagers laughed, before Maya stepped forwards. 

“Haru-chan. Do you have any idea about who else is held here?” 

Haru frowned. “Sorry, Maya-sensei. I did hear something about a ‘transfer’ happening soon. Those nasty shadows were planning on selling us off! And that just made me so- _si vous me passez l'expression_\- ‘freaking’ mad, I ended up seeing red, and now I’m here!” She giggled, adjusting her hat. 

Chie groaned. “Aw, great. With our luck, they’ve probably gotten sold off already.” 

“And we don’t even know who’s stuck here!” Ann huffed. “This is seriously the worst. But it seems like the only way to get answers is to keep climbing.” 

Suddenly, they heard a rumble of footsteps as a large figure grew closer. The air started turning a faint purple, as all of the Persona-users started coughing, watching as a large, black demon slowly made its way into the hallway, laughing. 

_”Hee-ho! Look at this! The hee-humans hee-scaped! Well, I’m going to put you back in your place!”_ The massive Black Frost roared, as Ann dropped to the ground, violently coughing from the poison cloud it was spewing. Chie summoned her Persona, shooting a wave of ice towards it, before staring in horror as it bounced off helplessly. 

“I have a plan…” Maya said, coughing softly. The others desperately turned to look at her. “Run!” She yelled, as the others complied easily, dashing off in another direction as the Black Frost stared at them, before banging it’s massive fists against the wall, whining. 

_”You can’t hee-hide forever! I’ll hee you to death, you ho’s!”_

After sprinting away, and realizing that they were all much faster than the large Frost demon, they found themselves in a small room- presumably a conference room, based off the furniture set up. While the windows were glass, years of disrepair and a lack of light had made them practically black with grime and dirt, meaning that they were essentially hidden for the time being. Ann kept coughing, staring out the window. Haru summoned her Persona, holding out her hands as they lit up with a soft pink light, casting Amrita Drop. 

“I’m definitely low on energy now…” Haru mumbled, as the others sat, waiting out the demon. 

“Well, we don’t have time on our side. If they’re getting sold off, they may actually be gone already. We’ll just need to find a way out of this building, and-” 

“I don’t think outside is good either.” Ann interrupted, pointing. The other Persona-users walked over, before looking at the desolate city around them. The buildings were decrepit, in various states of disrepair outside of one central tower, that seemed to be the most modern and pristine out of all of them. Several waves of dark shadows seemed to come to and from it, and on the ground several explosions could be seen from various groups and factions of demons fighting. Looking upwards, it seemed that what could be assumed to be the moon would shift phases incredibly fast. In other words, they were far from their comfort zone, and the outside didn’t seem as safe as the inside. Chie’s eyes widened as she pointed to an object leaving the building that they were in. A truck, slowly heading away with several cages on it. 

“Those must be the others!” She called out, as it slowly made its way out into the chaotic city, heading towards the gigantic central tower. 

“How the hell are we supposed to get there? We don’t have our powers, and they’ll kill us the instant they realize we’re human!” Kanji yelled. 

“Then we simply don’t have to be human.” Haru said, as if this was an obvious conclusion. The others stared at her with various shades of confusion. She smiled, rolling her eyes slightly. “We simply need to conceal our true nature. I assume they don’t have much reference for humans, outside of the fact that we don’t have any hugely inhuman traits and showed up out of the blue, but there are humanoid shadows, correct?” 

Maya nodded. “I see what you mean. Some demons may be stupid enough to believe us if we simply made the claim that we’re demons as well, especially if we can exhibit signs of magic. But that doesn’t answer the question of how we leave here. The Black Frost is going to be patrolling everywhere.“ 

Chie rubbed her chin. “Killin’ it is out of the question, at least for now.” She began. “But, maybe we could try to slowly take out the smaller demons and then gain strength from that. I mean, Haru-chan was fighting them, and I can already tell she’s stronger than us.” The curly-haired girl blushed, giggling. 

“So like grindin’? Like in some sorta game? I think I get the deal. Slowly pick off the little guys while avoiding the Massive Jerk?” Kanji grumbled. “Well, we don’t have a better plan. Operation Black Jack is underway!” He grinned, slamming his fist against the table. Chie smiled, patting him on the shoulder. 

“Good name.” 

“Aw, thanks.” 

Maya summoned her Persona, folding her arms. “Okay, kiddos. Time to get started! Clear out the little guys, take down the big guy, and then save our friends! Let’s do this!” The others cheered, as their Personas burst forth, causing the room to brighten with their newfound confidence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> man jack dialogue is harder than i thought
> 
> that's it that's all i really have to say.
> 
> Well, also, the perspective shifts are close to set in stone. I'll probably do a concise rotation of one chapter happening on 'This Side' with Ryuji and the others, and then the next one happening on the 'Other Side' with Maya, so on and so forth.


	7. Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eikichi can't handle two-on-one. Philemon does something for once. Sae dies.

Lisa Silverman thought she had a decent amount of mental fortitude. She had two sets of memories banging around her head, and while she was getting mild migraines just from looking at the other Tatsuya in front of her, she was holding up pretty well. Of course, that was before her fiance decided to go insane and try to kill her. The first tidal wave rose up, as Eikichi threw his arms into the air, laughing like a maniac. Well, more of a maniac. Any grown man who did visual kei in this day and age was probably a bit insane, but not insane to commit murder. She had stood there, like an idiot, before in an instant she had found herself in Tatsuya’s arms as he dove out of the way, glaring as the tidal wave slammed against one of the buildings.

“Are you okay?” Tatsuya asked, simply. She had missed the sound of his voice. Not like she hadn’t spoken to the ‘Other Tatsuya’ before, she was close enough friends with Maya and Katsuya so that hadn’t been an issue, but there was something beautiful about the man in front of her. The rugged growl, the heat radiating from his body, and had his arms always been so muscular? Even in a Featherman costume, he still managed to assert himself as a man among men. 

There was a beat, before she had realized that he had been longingly staring at him for a bit too long. A few seconds in the middle of battle could feel like hours, and it wasn’t exactly good to be distracted for- 

She found herself tossed in the air as another burst of water was shot towards them, Tatsuya throwing forwards a wave of flames that instantly evaporated the water. She hung in the air for a moment, before the realization that she could actually fight snapped back, as she landed back into Tatsuya’s arms, and he let her go, the two Persona-users standing back to back. The familiar, bright form of Apollo flashed to life behind Tatsuya, and Venus flared into the world behind her. 

“Are you ready for this, _Chinyan_?” She asked, teasingly. She couldn’t read his expression, but she could practically feel the blush coming off him as his jaw tightened beneath the mask. 

“...Please focus on fighting.” He rumbled. He held out his hand, focusing, before whips of flame began to converge and form a flaming katana. That was new. Could they do that? Since when could they do that? 

_”Are you two done chit-chatting. I, Hades, will turn you all into dust, and force you down into the netherworld! Have at thee!”_ Eikichi screamed, shooting forwards with an incredible amount of speed. Whatever ‘Izanagi’ had done to him, it was effective. The two men clashed, as Lisa focused, a pillar of stone shooting up from under her fiance, sending the blue haired man flying into the air. She looked at Tatsuya, giving him the signal to wait, before forming a stone pillar up under her as well, sending her rocketing upwards. The two of them continued rising, before Eikichi’s pillar stopped it’s ascent. Her’s had continued another couple of feet before stopping, as she jumped off with an elbow to his back, watching as the ‘god’ screamed. 

“_Sorry-ia_, baby, but I’m not quitting until you behave yourself. Now, here I go!” She held her hands towards the sky, as Venus shot upwards. The pillar began to shake and fizzle as a swarm of shining, pink bubbles shot upwards towards the both of them. “Foamy Lover!” She screamed, as both of their forms were surrounded in the bubbles. All of the fighting from outside seemed to come to a halt, as they watched the glowing, glistening orb float in the sky, and the screams that came from outside. 

“Hyah! Ora! Just give in and give me Eikichi back you soon of a-” She assaulted Eikichi with a barrage of punches and kicks, before her fist was grabbed. She looked into Eikichi’s eyes, a glowing yellow through the sentai mask, before the pink bubbles around them started to turn a dark, bloody red. 

_**”Bloody Divorce.”**_ He growled, the bubbles popping slowly as each one dripped viscous red liquid on them both. 

“Uh, _Chinyan_? Isn’t it ‘Bloody Honeymoon’?” She asked, sheepishly, before the sudden dark explosion sent her rocketing towards the ground. Another skip in time, and she found herself caught by Tatsuya again. 

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that move. Of course, now that we’re showing off signature techniques…” She stared in awe as he and his Persona stood in front of her, doing a series of hand movements, before another skip in time, and suddenly Tatsuya was hovering above the ground, gripping a giant ball of nuclear fire in his hands. 

“Eikichi. Look into my eyes.” 

The floating guitarist whipped his head upwards, staring in horror before he was consumed by the giant mass of nuclear flame. Him and the flame ball slammed into the ground, leaving a gigantic crater. Tatsuya landed next to Lisa, as they slid down to check on Eikichi. Tatsuya kicked the man, watching as he coughed before sitting up. 

“...Did you just hit me with a Nova Kaiser?” 

“Nova Cyther, but yes.” He reached out a hand, helping Eikichi stand up. The tall, blue haired man ran a few fingers through his hair, trying to fix it. 

“Was that because you wanted to stop me, or because you wanted to hit me in the face with your strongest attack?” He asked again, attempting to walk a bit before collapsing. “Gah, that and Foamy Lover? I swear to god you two were actually trying to murder me…” 

Lisa rubbed her chin. “So, you remember trying to fight us? Key word: Trying.” Eikichi nodded. 

“It’s like my body was on autopilot. Hades was in control, but do you think… that’s how our Shadows feel inside us. Watching as ‘they’ interact with the rest of the world, but can’t like… do anythin’ about it? Hoo, man. My head hurts.” 

“Well, I suppose we should get to helping those other kids, right?” Tatsuya asked, as the three of them began to make their way out of the crater, before a blast of lightning sent them flying backwards. Izanagi slammed down to the ground in front of them. 

_”You took Hades away from his eternal reward. You mortals do nothing but take, harvest, and steal from others. Now, you’ll have to face my wrath.”_ Izanagi snarled, sparks flying off of his body. 

“Guess we’ll need to take a time out and handle this prick.” Eikichi groaned. 

~~~~~~~ 

This ‘Philemon’ had asked Sae a seemingly ridiculous question. Of course she knew her name. She parted her lips, beginning to talk, before the realization that she couldn’t recall it was pushing at her. “It’s…” She trailed off again, squeezing her eyes shut. This was something simple. She didn’t have time for this! Makoto could be dead, or hurt, or worse. She didn’t need to be standing here playing name games. She spun on her heels, marching back towards where the reports considered ‘ground zero’, before she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

“Focus, please.” The voice of Philemon sounded… familiar to Sae. It resonated within her. But that didn’t make sense, she had never spoken to them before. 

“Just be quiet!” She yelled, elbow snapping towards , striking him in the face. The mask cracked, but didn’t come off. Simply revealing pale skin. She couldn’t tell if it was more indicative of a porcelain doll or a corpse. Sae pulled her arm back, before turning back around, continuing her push forwards. 

Philemon went quiet, before shaking his head. “You will die if you go as you are. You have the determination found in your sister, but the impetus hasn’t been discovered yet.” Sae slowed down, clutching her handgun tightly. 

“That doesn’t matter. I’ve got to make sure Makoto is safe.” She said, before making her way further. Philemon didn’t stop her, simply shaking his head and vanishing from sight for the time being. "Then I shall protect you." He whispered, under his breath. 

Sae ran towards the sounds of fighting, watching as more demons seemed to be escaping overhead. Weren’t they supposed to be doing damage control on that? Something might have slowed them down. Or… she paled a bit. They may have died. She continued forwards, before seeing several forms engaged in combat, before looking around until she spotted what she only assumed was Makoto. Sure, the hair was dyed, and her eyes were glowing yellow… and she was in the process of choking Ryuji… 

Sae slowed down slightly, calling out to her sister. “Makoto! What are you-” The other girl’s head snapped towards Sae, her reaction almost instantaneous. A burst of nuclear energy, that engulfed Sae enough to send her flying backwards with a scream, before collapsing in a disturbing heap. 

The yellow eyes of ‘Anat’ widened, as she watched Sae’s body drop to the ground, immolated in the hot blue nuclear flames. _”You… you weren’t supposed to be here. You are a mortal meddling with the affairs of gods!”_ Makoto’s form wailed, dropping Ryuji. The punk coughed, spitting up blood before looking over at Sae. 

“That ain’t a mortal, Makoto. That’s your sister. And she… you killed her.” He grunted, as he felt a boot smack into the side of her face. 

_“That’s not true! If anything, I released her soul to a better place! One of eternal life! She shouldn’t have been here in the first place.”_ She tried to reason, as Ryuji watched with horror. 

~~~~~~~ 

What an interesting development. 

Philemon stared down Izanagi, appearing in front of the familiar Persona-users. He heard a tired huff from Tatsuya. 

“Why are you getting involved? I thought that was one of your rules.” He growled. 

“If you don’t want my help. I can leave, Tatsuya.” The legitimate god said, a playful tone in his voice. He chuckled as the other two let out several rapid exclamations 

_”Masked God. Consider this. While my mind is immortal, the body of Narukami is just a child of the flesh in your eyes.”_ ‘Izanagi’ reasoned, placing a hand on his chest. Philemon rested a hand on his chin, humming to himself. Lisa, Tatsuya, and Eikichi stared at the masked god in awe, wondering if he was truly planning on just leaving after all of this. Philemon snapped his fingers, before turning to the three older Persona-wielders. 

“You can handle this. As my avatars.” 

“I knew you weren’t good for anything, Philemon. Whatever, I have this guy handled!” Tatsuya growled, as Apollo Prime burst forth. Philemon clicked his tongue. He hadn’t been able to monitor Tatsuya on the Other Side due to it being a facet of Nyarlathotep’s corrupted power. However, the fact that he managed to take his assumed ‘Ultimate Persona’ and managed to take it to another level was unprecedented. Normally it would just evolve once more, but somehow his psyche managed to both change and remain stagnant. 

“Be wise, Tatsuya. Years alone doesn’t mean you need to be alone.” Philemon advised. “Consider this a ‘buff’ from me.” With a wave of his hand, the fighters were illuminated by a blinding rainbow light, which seemed to dissipate just as quickly as it was cast. Eikichi bounced on his heels slightly, before summoning Hades. 

“Hoo! I think ol’ Phil might have done me a favor! I’m feelin’ amazing, baby!” 

Lisa clenched her fists, as Venus was summoned. She slid easily into a fighting stance. “He’s given us a buff, for now. Let’s not waste it.” 

Tatsuya groaned, before pointing a finger towards ‘Izanagi’. “Alright, you false god. You should have just let Philemon kick your ass, because now you’re going to be in a whole new world of pain.” Philemon gave them a quick nod before disappearing, instantly reappearing at the edge of the crater. He had more important things to handle. Like Nijima’s burning corpse. 

Ryuji and Makoto watched as the god walked over, simply observing for the time being. 

“The fate of one who doesn’t listen is always set in stone.” He began, folding his arms, shaking his head sadly. “Those who confine themselves to the binds of time and possibility, despite being aware of their ability to overcome are no more puppets than the rest. Dolls set up helplessly in the playset of the strong. What a tragedy.” 

‘Anat’ glared at Philemon, two nuclear orbs forming in her hands. _”Don’t you dare to speak to her in such a manner! She has risen to a realm beyond your comprehension, that is all!”_ She screamed. Ryuji winced, slowly forcing his way to his feet. 

“We both know that’s not true.” Philemon replied. “She hasn’t gone anywhere at all.” He turned his head back towards Sae, the others following suit, before the sight in front of them left them shocked. The corpse was standing up, the light blue nuclear fire swirling around her, obstructing her form to where the only thing that was visible was her darkened outline. She was clawing at her face, violently. 

Ryuji’s eyes widened. “...A mask. No effin’ way.” Makoto took a step back, her breathing starting to pick up. 

_”...Sis…?”_

The flaming form of Sae stepped forwards, the mumblings of a conversation audible but not decipherable. A conversation with nobody. An inner self, before suddenly with a flourish, she ripped the unidentified appendage from her face, the splatterings of blood flying from the flames. 

A voice called out, eerily calm, but having a commanding tone that would be difficult to resist. 

“I don’t know who _you_ are, but I want my sister back. Now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to put 'shit gets more complicated' in the summary but that seemed to be in poor taste


	8. Temporary Bond

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Party on the Other Side is faced with an encounter they can't handle, and quickly learn that not every demon around wants their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get the occassional notif of people leaving kudos on this, and well- I definietely owed you guys another chapter!

“This was an awful idea.” Kanji groaned.

The concept of ‘grinding’ wasn’t something unfamiliar to most of the group. Well, Haru and Maya didn’t seem to entirely understand it, but once it had been more or less explained as ‘that thing where your leader makes you run around kicking weak shadows for hours on end’. Maya had furrowed her brow, frowning slightly as she folded her arms. 

“I just called that ‘tedious’.” She had said with a shrug. “But if that’s what you think will work, that’s fine with me!” 

Of course, after several hours and quickly realizing that ‘grinding’ only worked when they could take breaks to recharge, they found themselves only slightly stronger and entirely drained of power and magic. Sure, they managed to thin out about a dozen Jacks, but outside of that there was practically no progress. They looked like a mess, having returned to the conference room they had set up as a base. Haru’s well-kept curls had lost their luster, Chie was face-down on a table, Ann was already fast asleep and Maya and Kanji were staring at the door with tired eyes, Personas flickering faintly behind them, hoping that no other demons had followed them back. The ‘Black Frost’ that had stomped through the halls passed by the room several times, and they had made the assumption that it was… too big to handle the door handles. 

“We have to get out of here.” Maya asserted, knowing that it was the obvious solution, but just to clear the air that there was no way that they were going to try and fight the Black Frost. There were several moans that she took to be her allies agreeing with her, and the distinct sound of tanked morale. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. This was a bad situation, sure. They were in a strange place where demons roamed around without any sort of containment, and they were too weak to fight back. _Sure._ Still, if they gave up now, there was no telling if they’d be able to survive. She propped herself up, clapping her hands together as the tired Persona-users jolted to attention, looking towards her. 

“Okay! Things kind of such right now, right?” A few more groans of agreement. “But! We just gotta get our bearings, and sneak out! Now, looking outside, we’re about three floors up. So we could jump…” She rubbed her chin. “...Who wants to jump?” 

Ann slowly wobbled to her feet. “Haru and I have done riskier in the Metaverse, I guess… If I had my whip, I could make a tether or something.” 

Haru stretched, before bouncing on her toes. “How about this? Ann-chan and I go on ahead, and see if we can find something to break everyone’s fall?” 

Kanji opened his mouth to chime in, but stopped once he heard the lumbering of the Black Frost. It stopped, squatting down in front of the doorway, the group able to see it’s massive, stupid grin through the tinted glass. 

It didn’t say a word, it didn’t need to as the room suddenly got hotter, and it let loose a blast of fire that sent all of them spiraling backwards whether they wanted to or not. Maya felt the flames creep across her body, scalding her as the massive explosion from the demon rocked them to an incredible degree. They crashed against the ground, groaning in pain as the Black Frost loomed over them from the destroyed conference room. 

_”Yikes! Damaged goods…! Well, you hee-humans will still fetch a decent price!”_ It cackled, slowly leaping out before them. Maya stood up, trying to look cool as she dusted the ash off of her jacket. She summoned the pathetic, yet beautiful Maia, clenching her fists. 

“Come at me, you doughy freak.” She growled. “Bufu!” She threw her hands forwards, her Persona firing a freezing wave of energy. It bounced helplessly against the demon, as it laughed, sending forth another wave of flame. 

They were all flung backwards, again, the heat causing them all to scream. Maya weakly fired of a few more attacks, watching with growing despair as they did nothing. The Persona users continued a tiny, pathetic assault as the Black Frost stomped closer, laughing maniacally. _”I’ll squ-hee-ze your legs so tight, then you can’t hee away any ho! Hee-hee! King Frost will be so hee-happy with me!”_ It cackled, before continuing it’s slow romp towards the group. 

Suddenly, a ray of bright light shone down, forcing the inky black demon to back away. 

_”Stay away from thine children, beast! They are naught but babes. Scions of great power, and yet thou harass them so?”_ A voice echoed, feminine yet still androgynous, as a figure slowly drifted downwards. An angel, Maya could tell that much. She could also tell that they were beautiful. Long dark hair that seemed to flow on it’s own accord, beautiful feathered wings that had been adorned with flecks of green- the same aquatic green as their skin, although instead of making them seem sick, it just added to it’s divine influence. A face that seemed to have been hand-crafted with intense care and attention, yet still had a loving, almost motherly quality to it. Golden armor that sparkled and glistened, even though there was no visible sun for it to shine under, and flowing robes beneath that promoted an image of regality. It landed between the group and the Black Frost, and Maya got a true metric for their size. While the Black Frost had to be at least fifteen feet tall, forced to squat or crawl through the hallways of it’s building, This angel seemed to make it seem small, almost double its height. 

The Black Frost snarled. _”Move! This isn’t your hee-ing problem!”_ It sprayed forth a burst of poison, as the angel seemed to effortlessly swipe it away with a slight wave of the hand. 

_”Thou are misguided. The influence of God has respected the realm of the ‘Jack’ clan for years in our world, but these are Children of Man, and therefore the Children of God. Leave now.”_ The angel said gently. The opposing demon didn’t heed the warning, storming forwards. The beautiful angel sighed, holding out one hand. 

_”God bless your soul.”_

The Frost had hardly a chance to react, before it vanished from the world in a flash of light. The others stared in awe, Maya looking backwards to see Ann and Haru specifically tense up. Apparently, they recognized this demon. Maya turned, stepping back cautiously as the large angel turned towards them, smiling gently. Yellow eyes, constantly burning, seemed… friendly. It gave them all a solemn nod. 

_”I apologize. Verily so. Children such as thee should not have to witness such fowl deaths. The soul of the Frost will be returned to God soon enough.”_

Kanji rubbed the back of his head, chuckling nervously. “I’m old enough to drink, but uh… I think I speak for all of us when I say ‘thanks, Lady’.” 

The angel shook their head. _”Please, address me as Gabriel. Do not be afraid. Being children of the heavens, you are under the protection of God as long as you follow Him.”_ They flicked their wrist, summoning a flaming blade before pointing it skyward. 

The group slowly huddled together, as Ann frantically whispered towards them. “Uh, last time we saw angels like that, they were working for Yaldabaoth! How are we supposed to trust them now?” Haru quickly nodded in response, although she did take a second to pause. 

“Gabriel did seem the… most hesitant to kill us? Maybe as long as we don’t break any rules, we can be friends!” The auburn-haired girl reasoned. 

The group nodded, before turning to face the angel, who had been watching them with an expression akin to a mother watching a group of toddlers babble incoherently to each other. _”Ah, it makes me so happy to see children such as thee work together! Truly, the grace of God shines within thee!”_ They cooed, the group nervously chuckling along, before Maya cleared her throat, stepping forwards. 

“Gabriel. We’re… not supposed to be here. We’re actually looking for a way back home, but first we need to find more humans like us. Do you know where they are?” 

The angel rested a hand on their chin in thought. A moment passed, before they let out a disappointed sigh. _”I do not want to disappoint such precious babes, and yet I do not know. However, if I take you back to the Temple of Shijima, perchance one of my kin may help you? It lies above the Central Beacon.”_ They pointed to the central tower with their blade, and then slowly gestured above it, motioning it towards what seemed to be a floating fortress. The faint forms of flying demons could be seen coming to and fro, although none seemed to interact with the tower below it. _”God’s wisdom is infinite.”_

Maya nodded, not daring to try and contradict the one demon that seemed willing to help them so far. 

They began walking, slowly as to let the group catch their breath and potentially recharge whatever magic they had left. They were exhausted, but somehow felt calmer and less stressed within the angels presence. They moved in silence for a while, looking around them in awe. While this was… basically hell, whatever demons weren’t looking at them with hunger, fear, or scorn, were actually seeming to live lives. Pixies liked to dance and weave between the group, a few of them even bothering to fix up some of the smaller, more surface-level scratches on them happily. It was… nice. 

Chie cleared her throat, before asking the question that had lingered on everyone’s mind. “So, uh. Gabriel, right? What’s the deal with this place?” 

Gabriel’s slight brow furrowed at the question, before shifting into a relaxed smile. _”I would be honored to teach you children of our world.”_ They raised their arms into the heavens, gesturing widely. _”Years ago, the world was run by Humanity. They were a beautiful, hard working race, specifically hand-picked by God Himself to further society and spread His Word. However, due to Humanity’s infinite potential, they were also prone to sin. One of our own kin, going by the name of Lucifer, an angel of eternal beauty and charisma defied God, and used their beauty to trick Humanity into throwing the world into Ruin. That is when The Six chose to stand against the darkness of humanity and attempt to right the wrongs of the world.”_

Maya’s eyes widened. “...The Six?” She had a hunch, but she had to know more. Although, if her hunch was right, then there were several massive holes and inaccuracies in Gabriel’s story. 

_”Six Humans. All of them able to command powerful demons. The Quiet. A young man with hair the color of the sky, and a voice that could rival the choirs of heaven, who could form death from his very fingertips. The Beloved. A young woman with hair of gold and eyes bluer than the clearest oceans, who could shake the earth with her very thoughts. The Empress, a woman with power coursing through her very body, and the ability to call forth energy from both the heavens and the core of the very planet. The Fated. A person who transcended the confines of human gender and possessed beauty that rivaled Lucifers, who could cause even the strongest gale to follow his command. The Sun, a young man who’s kindness was only overshadowed by his rage, able to cause the confines of time itself to crumble and summon the flames of Hell with ease. And finally, The Moon. A beautiful woman adorned with hearts to represent her immense kindness, able to summon cold that could freeze over Hell.”_ Gabriel’s eyes seemed to focus on Maya, as she nervously placed a hand on one of the heart-shaped decals on the breast of her jacket. She gave the angel a nervous smile. 

Those descriptions weren't familiar, per se. She wasn't really one of the Six mentioned, but things were slowly lining up about what she knew about the timeline that Philemon and Nyarlathotep had left behind. And this was it. This had to be the Other Side that Tacchan had left to. These were the stories of his team, his friends that had fought against Nyarlathotep. Stories that made Lisa and Eikichi cringe from their conflicting memories. Ones that Yukino and Jun were blissfully unaware of. That just made her feel... disingenuous. Like some monster wearing the face and skin of an actual hero. She couldn't claim That Maya's acchomplishments, even if she fit the bill. 

“They certainly sound important. What happened to them?” 

Gabriel sighed, frowning. _”Perished. Only the Sun remains. They fought hard, as legend told, but they lost to the forces of darkness. But not until liberating the angels, so that we may protect the remaining humans.”_

“And this… Sun. What did he look like?” She clasped her hands together. She didn't know which answer she'd like more. 

_”Sadly, I had only encountered The Sun once. He was challenging a demon of ice, Loki, and was unjustly ambushed by some of the cowards lackeys. I had been watching from a distance in awe. For a human man, he was beautiful. Eyes and hair the color of darkened autumn leaves, adorned in the deepest red. He summoned what seemed to be an aspect of himself, resembling that of a court jester, although glowed with a heat that… dare I say, almost rivaled that of the highest Archangels.”_

Maya’s breath hitched. “...Tatsuya's alive.” She whispered. It had to be him. He had survived for this long, in a world like this? He had to be terrified. Scared. _Scarred._

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. _“Did you say something, my child?”_

“No, no! I just sneezed. Don’t worry about it, Gabby!” Maya quickly waved it off, and Gabriel seemed satisfied with the answer, although their lips pursed slightly. They mumbled the nickname ‘Gabby’ to themselves, as if testing it out. _”...Hm.”_

Chie and the others inched closer. “...Who’s Tatsuya?” Chie whispered. The others gave Maya raised brows. 

“I’ll tell you all about it later, okay?” 

"And what about these 'Six'? Are you...?" Kanji trailed off, as Maya shook her head. 

"Later. And now isn't the time to be making claims like that." 

They reached a stopping point as they saw a human-like figure stalking towards them. Maya flinched, taking a step back. _Resonance._ She hadn’t felt Resonance like that in years. Persona users could sense other Persona users, she was sure there was some long-winded explanation about how they were all connected, but Resonance was different. It was furious, distorted, conflicted with the generally pure and positive energy that came from the average Persona. Which meant two things. This person was pissed, or this was a really strong shadow. 

“All of you except Haru and Ann. Move.” The voice called out. A young man. “They’re playing you. Nothing but pawns for the enemy.” 

Haru’s eyes widened. “Amamiya-kun? You’re okay! But… I don’t understand. Maya-sensei and the others are good!” She called out, as he got closer. They got a better look at him. The kid was dressed like a superhero- but Maya assumed that this was his ‘Thief’ costume, just like how Ann and Haru had been in theirs. 

“Don’t play dumb with me.” Ren spat. “You know what you’ve done, and now you’re going to pay the price. I won’t let you hurt or manipulate anyone else!” He stomped his foot, as dark energy spiraled off of his body. 

“You’re not makin’ any sense, Amamiya! Come on, let’s just group up. Nobody needs to fight.” Kanji shouted, stepping in front of the two girls. 

“You’re not a part of this. But… if you’re going to get in my way.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small handgun. “I’m sorry.” 

Maya was left speechless. Which was odd. She usually was better at… this. Still, she didn’t need to speak, as a flurry of gold and green flew between them and the Wild Card. Gabriel brandished their sword, exhaling softly. 

_”Children, leave now.”_ Gabriel commanded, landing in front of the five Persona users. _”This one is simply misguided. I can tell that there is still the Light of God in your heart, Masked One.”_ They extended a hand towards Joker, beckoning him warmly. _”Please, just relinquish your-”_ They were cut short by a sudden gunshot to the chest, a scorching mark left in their gleaming breastplate. The angel collapsed to the ground, wings flapping violently as they tried to right themselves. Maya watched in horror. That Amamiya kid… were the rumors about the Phantom Thieves actually true then? He was claiming that they were being manipulated, but what would prompt him to say things about his own teammates? There had to be something more to this. 

“Yo, Gabriel!” Kanji yelled. “Don’t kill him! He’s just a kid!” Maya turned to see the taller man, sweat beading across his face. He looked towards Amamiya, his brow set. “I know you’re not a bad kid. We’ll come back for you, and everyone’s gettin’ out of this hell hole!” 

_"I shall try. But you all must go. I sense murder within his heart."_

Ren’s brow furrowed. “...Kanji-san. I’m sorry you’re being manipulated like this. If I can’t change your mind, I can at least grant you a swift death.” He aimed his gun towards Kanji, pulling the trigger. The next couple of seconds seemed to drift in slow motion, as the bullet whipped past Maya’s ear and sliced into his shoulder, causing the burly man to stumble backwards. Chie sprinted over, helping Kanji to his feet. 

“Uh, guys. Now’s a good time to listen to Gabriel!” 

Ann frowned. “...Joker, what’s gotten into you?” She mumbled, before nodding. The group began to head off, Haru and Chie helping Kanji along, as the Archangel posted themselves between the retreating group and the rogue. 

Maya followed behind, before a voice called out to her. 

_”Child.”_

She turned to look at the angel, who had their back to her, but still wounded- kneeling down, although clearly trying to force themselves up to their feet. Powerful wings flapped, as it held a pale lily in one hand, and a mighty sword in the other. With a casual toss of the wrist, the lily was thrown backwards, 

_”You are equipped for the journey ahead, but please don’t err. Reach the central tower, rescue your kin, and stay alive. I do not know why, but your life holds a massive weight. As long as you hold my flower, you are seen as a friend to Gabriel, and therefore to the Powers That Be. Now, flee!”_

Maya nodded, taking a few steps back, before continuing after the group before the sound of crackling energy and blinding flashes filled up her peripheral vision. She stared at the lily in her palm, before stuffing it in the pocket of her jacket. 

How come they couldn’t find any nice demons that actually stuck around for once?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel is my favorite archangel. Uriel is a close second.
> 
> Also, I really like the fact that demons had distinct personalities in the Megami Tensei series, honestly, I really like the fact that demon negotiation is a thing in 5. It helps give some character to the hordes of enemies you're fighting.


	9. Inanna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sae awakens. Izanagi has a tantrum. Philemon grows weaker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Persona 5 Royal Release Week!

Sae was dying. She found her sister, and now she was dying. She lay on her back, smouldering as her vision was consumed by blue flames. The pain was unbearable. She wanted it to end- under any sort of circumstance, she just wanted it to end. She was teetering on the verge of life or death, and in her screaming thoughts she just wanted one side to grab her and make a decision.

_”So, I suppose it is time to pose a contract?”_ A voice rang in her head. It was… her own voice. No, it was different. More confident, violent, and brimming with power. The pain from the nuclear flames seemed to die down a bit as the voice spoke, but that was because it was being replaced by a new, worse pain. Her head was pounding. 

_”You have constantly thought yourself to serve as the law, but have defied it several times over to pass your own brand of Judgement. You are filled to the brim with contradictions. And you despise that.”_ The voice echoed as Sae let out a pained, choked scream, beginning to thrash wildly on the ground. 

_”From now on, do you pledge to rise above your hypocrisy? Pledge to me your heart, and you shall have hope. Pledge to me your soul, and you shall have victory.”_ She needed to stand up. She couldn’t be helpless anymore. She shuddered as she slowly tried to sit up, her body still convulsing, the flames still clinging on to her body. 

“I understand…” She managed to cough out, slowly pushing up to her feet. 

_”! Pass true Judgement, and finally take control of your reality!”_

She stood confidently, before the area around her eyes began to itch. A mask. A mask felt like it had burned onto her face. She clawed at it, finally gripping the edge and beginning to peel it off, the mask clinging to her skin like it was part of her own flesh. Eventually she chose to rip it off in one fluid motion, tossing the mask aside as blood began to trickle down her face. She pointed towards the Makoto-adjacent being, her teeth gritted. 

“I don’t know who you are, but I want my sister back. Now.” She growled, before throwing her hands forward. “Purify her! Inanna!” A form burst forth from her body, a large, mechanical, yet somewhat feminine form trampled forwards before tumbling across the ground, it’s shape changing into that of a large motorcycle-esque object, slamming into ‘Makoto’ and sending her tumbling backwards. The form swung back, as Sae seamlessly hopped on the ethereal vehicle that she had created. She blinked, realizing what had happened, before looking at herself. She had become clad in what could be described as dark, heavy riot gear. Spikes adorned the shoulders, and the chestplate was a rusted, metallic silver. Her hair flowed behind her, as she pointed her revolver at Makoto, a pained expression crossing her face. 

“Makoto. I don’t want to hurt you. Please… just, overcome whatever this is!” Sae pleaded, as Makoto slowly forced herself up to her feet. 

_”Don’t call me by that petty name! I am Anat, and have been awoken by the true God, Izanagi!”_ She roared, stomping her feet as a visage began to flicker behind her. It folded itself into a motorcycle as well, as the two sisters faced off with one another. 

“Holy shit! No fair, Makoto gets Persona powers, and can still summon her Persona?” Ryuji yelled. ‘Anat’ glared over at him, raising her arms to strike him with an attack before Sae’s body seemed to act on instinct, revving the engine on her Persona and swerving over to Ryuji, grabbing him and circling around over to Philemon, dropping him at the deity’s feet. She looked over at him expectantly, hoping that he would be able to clear out some sort of explanation. 

Philemon nodded. _”Her usage of a Persona means that her psyche is still split. If you can defeat Anat, then you can recover your sister’s lost mind.”_ He said simply. That was enough for Sae, who turned to see Anat bursting towards her, tackling her off her Persona and beginning to engage her sister in close-quarters combat. The two sisters exchanged blows, Sae harkening it back to their martial arts training. If it didn’t feel like such a life-or-death situation, she would actually be enjoying the spar a bit. And, since this felt so similar, it meant that no matter how much this Anat claimed to have nothing to do with Makoto, she still had the same instincts. 

“Watch your legs.” Sae commented calmly, her assailants eyes widening for a second- just like Makoto’s would, as she would subconsciously try to adjust her legs into more of a defensive position. Sae took the opportunity to grip Anat’s left arm, before hoisting the girl over her shoulders, and slamming her to the ground. “Sorry.” Sae mumbled dryly, before looking over to see Anat’s Persona rushing in, slamming into the prosecutor and sending her flying away. Sae grunted as she hit the ground, skidding next to three Persona-users in… Featherman outfits facing down a young man that was practically glowing with electrical energy. 

How hard did her sister hit her, again? 

The woman in the purple Featherman outfit stared at Sae, before looking over at the one in red. “Uh, Tatsuya? Should we get her out of the way before we-” She was cut off as the red Featherman- Tatsuya- sprinted towards the glowing young man beginning to engage in sword-based combat with him. They clashed blades over and over, before the other two Feathermen jumped in, trying to support the red Featherman. Sae shook her head, getting back up to her feet, as Anat began to speed towards her. Sae held her arms in a defensive position, as her mind began racing for a way for her to defend herself. Anat shot a ball of nuclear fire at her, before a voice tugged at the depths of her soul, prompting Sae to yell a command. 

“Makarakarn!” The grey-haired woman screamed, as her body became enveloped by a glistening shield, as the nuclear blast ricocheted off and slammed into Anat instead, causing her to stop her assault for the time being- but still seemed unfazed. 

Wait, what the hell was a ‘Makarakarn’? How did she know that? Sae blinked, before throwing her hands forwards once more. Her Persona formed behind her, seeming to follow the instinct that since nuclear attacks weren’t working, she’d need to try something. 

“Megido…?” Sae whispered, before her Persona fired off a blazing beam of white-hot energy, watching as it collided with Anat, sending her pseudo-sister skittering off her bike and onto the ground. “...What happened to me? Did this happen to Makoto?” Was she just supposed to accept the fact that she had otherworldly powers? She didn’t have time to think as two more bodies slammed into her back, sending three forms scattering across the ground. 

“Hey… _Chinyan…_” The purple Featherman mumbled to the yellow one that crashed down with her. “Is… is Philemon’s boost fading… or do we just suck?” 

“Probably a bit of both…” The yellow Featherman mumbled, before slowly attempting to stand up to his feet, before collapsing again. “Gah… my bones…” 

_”Enough!”_ Sae’s head whipped around, as did everyone else’s, to focus on Izanagi, who had forced him and the red Featherman into a standstill. _”I’m growing tired of all of this. You all will not supress my ambition! I will awaken this entire planet if need be!”_ He screamed, his voice echoing across the barren city that was slowly being infected with more and more demonic entities. 

_”You will face the Truth! Whether you want to or not!”_ The white-haired god screamed, throwing his blade into the air. It began spinning violently on it’s own, sending out several pulses of energy as the others stared on in awe. The pulses began to grow larger and larger, finally striking the red Featherman and sending him crashing downwards into the rest of the group. 

“Uh. This feels like some final phase boss-fight stuff, and we’re just getting started.” The yellow-clad man mumbled, as Sae started to help the two of them up. This was… confusing, but they seemed to be fighting on the same side at least. Sae huddled with him, as Ryuji and Philemon also limped over to the group. Sae looked behind her, staring in shock as the apparent god was translucent and starting to fade away. 

_”...We’re leaving. It seems as if I… am losing a bit of my… potency.”_ The masked god mumbled, as Ryuji stared up at the pulsing energy. 

“Is that thing for real?! Uh, we gotta get out of here- now!” He yelled, before Philemon nodded, surrounding them in a glowing light. 

“Wait!” Sae yelled, before running over to Anat, who had been knocked off her bike. The younger girl squirmed, before Sae struck her in the back of the neck, knocking her out. She picked up her sister, letting out a quiet sigh, before walking back over to the group and entering the small bubble of light. “Thank you, Philemon. Now.” 

The god nodded, before snapping his fingers, as the scenery around them quickly shifted. 

The room she found herself in could only be described as… corrupted. While it was all a beautiful blue color, it seemed like it was crumbling at the seams, the floor being filled with an inky black liquid as three blue-clad women with glowing golden eyes formed a protective circle around an older, strange-looking man with a large nose. Sae looked down, the boots of her armor were in the process of slowly sinking into the darkness, before one of the blue-clad woman- one with short hair, snapped her fingers and the few Persona-users found themselves standing on small disks of light. Sae looked closer, and realized that the denizens of this strange room seemed to be afloat on similar platforms of light. She felt Makoto stir in her arms, her younger sister making a pained expression. Whatever… ‘Izanagi’ had done, it made her worse than human. She saw the prickling of what seemed to almost be fangs within her tacturn- or, who she had assumed to be taciturn- sister’s mouth. 

The strange old man spoke, his mouth never opening, just stretching that strange grin with every syllable. “Ah. Miss Niijima. Apologies for this to be the way we meet. Welcome to the Velvet Room. A place between dream and reality. Mind and matter. Your true body is in a neutral space, protected from outside harm. My name is Igor.” He had a strange tone to his voice, but overall… kind. She felt welcome, at the very least. His demeanor seemed calm, if not saddened. 

One of the blue-clad women spoke again, she seemed like a younger girl, with long white hair and a butterfly-themed headband across her head. “My name is Lavenza. I was responsible for looking after my Trickster- ah, Ren.” Her expression softened, before her eyes drifted downcast. “We are in dire straits. I can not feel my Trickster anywhere. If he had passed, we would have been able to feel him within the Sea of Souls. His soul is… gone. Or hidden, but I fear...” She trembled slightly, Sae wondering if the girl was about to burst out in tears in front of her, the short-haired woman placed a hand on Lavenza’s shoulder, rubbing it comfortingly. While that happened, the third woman- looking much more mature and composed compared to the others, finally spoke. 

“I am Margaret. The world has been split in two, theoretically. Or, has been doubled, and is reaching what could be considered as a ‘conception’. A conception of a new world where anarchy runs wild.” She said, her tone calm and measured, purely stating the facts of the matter. She didn’t seem as troubled as the other ones, and calmly flipped through the tome that Sae had just noticed in her grasp. It glowed faintly, as Margaret aimed the book towards Sae, watching as the pages seemed to flutter automatically towards a specific segment. “Chapter Twenty. The Judgement Arcana. Inanna. Specializing in nuclear skills.” A brief smile flickered across Margaret’s face. “While the aspects of your Personas are slightly different, they connect on a fundamental level. How curious.” 

The short-haired woman spoke up, confidently. “We haven’t had a chance to really observe the Personas of direct siblings. The closest we had were the bonds between three young men possessing the Hierophant, Justice, and Emperor Arcanas.” She said, haughtily. “So you have to excuse us if we’re a bit curious.” 

The man in the red Featherman outfit spoke up- she remembered people referring to him as ‘Tatsuya’. “What’s going on here, exactly? Outside of Igor’s harem, I don’t remember the Velvet Room being… anything like this. And… I was meaning to ask you this earlier, Philemon…” She turned to look, realizing that the man’s eyes were on her. She was shocked for a moment. She wasn’t Philemon- or, as far as she knew, she was still herself. She felt something tickle against the side of her face, before a butterfly flitted off it, flying circles around Igor and the women surrounding him. A voice filled the air, Philemon’s voice. 

The blue-clad women seemed awestruck. “The Master Above Masters?” Lavenza said, gasping softly. 

_”...I… am weak. The more those demons spread… the more the future seems bleak to those who see them. Hope is depleting… and I with it... I… I am sorry. As Margaret said…the world is becoming overrun by demons. Demons representing the most primal aspects of the world, and therefore throwing it into a helpless void. Izanagi's pulse has... quickened this process... boosting the latent 'id' inside of humanity and turning them into approximate demons as well. I thought... his power wouldn't work on such a wide scale... but with the Wild Card's infinite potential... he can do nothing but grow. But… while many of the Persona-users of this world have… fallen… there are still those that have a strong enough will…”_

A wave of butterflies seemed to fill the ceiling of the Velvet Room, finally coalescing into a flickering vision. Sae stared upwards at a man he didn’t recognize. Lithe, elegant, with one glittering hoop earring seeming to be his main distinguishing trait. The man seemed to stand confidently as the demons began to screech and inch forwards, the main snapping his fingers before exploding with a flash of light, a Persona of his own floating behind him. The summoned Persona was regal, wrapped up like an egyptian Pharaoh, and summoned a staff, beginning to twirl it vehemently as it created loop after loop of burning hot fire. Sae winced, practically feeling the heat. 

Another vision, this of a woman. Her brown hair was cut short, a beauty mark below her lip, her eyes sad yet unfazed at the monsters approaching her. She seemed to be in some sort of psychiatric office, a patient cowering behind her. She closed her eyes, sighing before summoning an elegant being that covered the entire field of Philemon’s vision in a blinding light. 

Another flitter of butterflies. This of a woman with dark, curly hair, staring down a group of demons. She stomped her foot, as a Persona burst to life in a thundering crash. Several ethereal arms sprang forth, spinning around bolts of lighting and whips of fire as if it were nothing. Several blades appeared in the violent entities hands, as they slashed through demon after demon. 

The next vision was a bit more soothing. A red-haired girl with a black mask seemed to dance and weave between the demons, all of them failing to grab hold of her. She flipped into the air, gracefully removing the mask as a glittering Persona sprang forth, dressed almost akin to a princess from a fairy tale. It’s long legs kicked outwards, heels slashing through the mobs of demons and sending them scattering to dust. The vision faded as the girl landed next to a taller man with shaggy dark hair and glasses, giving him a weak, but reassuring smile.

The next vision was a bit more morbid. Sae recognized the focus of the vision as Shirogane Naoto, the ‘Detective Prince’. Her hair was darkened and slicked back with sweat, and her eyes were an inky black. Some sort of unseen darkness seemed to be seeping out of every orifice of her body, as she held on tightly to the emaciated and weakened body of Kirijo Mitsuru with one arm, her other arm shakily holding a gun towards an unknown assailant. The vision ended abruptly as Shirogane fired her gun, the butterflies scattering. 

The butterflies swirled for one last time, before presenting another vision. This one was more gruesome, that of a prison facility littered with the corpses of demons. A man with greasy black hair and a prison uniform summons something. It can only be assumed to be a Persona, but it’s anger and ferocity makes it seem more akin to a true demon that has barely been leashed. It snapped forwards, summoning a spear and gouging through another group of demons, whatever essence that flowed through them now painting the hallways. Several security guards followed along closely, seeming to be protected by the violent man, but still trembling in awe and fear of his immense power. 

This was someone who Sae recognized vaguely. “Adachi Tohru. Convicted murderer. The judge wasn’t able to get a straight answer on how he committed the crimes, since he kept claiming mystical influence and power.” She looked at her hands. Power. Well, there was an explanation, even if she wasn’t a huge fan of it. This was what she had let Makoto do this entire time. 

She LET Makoto do this. 

The man with the long nose drummed his fingers against the desk, catching Sae’s attention. “Miss Niijima. I can see you’re experiencing some apprehension about this newfound power, and what it means for the past and the future. While you may feel like control is out your grip, you may find your hands on the reigns again soon enough.” 

_“You have been given the power of Persona. A chance to build upon oneself. While you may not stay in the light, your purpose is to represent Humanity's strength against the dark. A truly free Persona user is drawn to it’s opposing forces, and is compelled to cut them down, no matter the calamity. And, while I’m trying to refrain from worrying you all…”_

“It’s too late for that.” Tatsuya growled. 

_“...Calamity is approaching. Outside of the fact that demons have become active once again, and the ‘ego’ of your fellow Persona-Wielders have been overwritten by demons- forces of death are being threatened and…”_ The butterfly stopped midair, dropping downwards, as the short-haired attendant caught him gracefully. The room felt… empty without Philemon’s voice, as Igor sighed. 

“Thank you, Elizabeth. It seems as if our master needs to rest. It seems as if your best chance of success occurs if you find those who share your intent. Mister Suou. Miss Niijima. Mister Sakamoto. You are the three that will return hope to our side of reality. This is but only one half of the battle. Mister Mishina and Miss Silverman will be able to rest her. As will your sister.” 

“You may return now. Your bodies have been unaffected by Izanagi’s pulse, but I do recommend that you find shelter as soon as possible. Hostile forces are everywhere.” Margaret snapped her fingers as Sae, Tatsuya, and Ryuji vanished in a flash of light, the bodies of Makoto, Eikichi, and Lisa dropping from their grips. Seconds later, they were standing in the middle of the edge between their side and the Other Side, the only option they had being to progress. 

“Come, Inanna!” Sae yelled, the glowing Persona shifting into a large motorcycle-like construct that the older Niijima sibling hopped on. Tatsuya didn’t skip a beat, hopping on behind her as Ryuji was pulled on the end, before they started to drive off. Anyone left in that pulse was either going to awaken to some sort of forceful power, or fully succumb to whatever ‘god’ they thought they were- like Makoto had. That was going to be troublesome. Crazy people were bad enough, people with literal god complexes and the power to back it up would be increasingly problematic. Still… maybe those people that Philemon had shown them had a better chance of staying ‘lucid’... 

“So, Niijima-san. What’s the plan?” Tatsuya rumbled, looking behind him as the ‘re-awakened’ Persona-users began to stir from being struck with the pulse. 

“No clue. I’m new at this. I just need to do whatever it takes to cure Makoto of… whatever that is.” 

Ryuji spoke up. “Uh, Niijima-san? Maybe check on Kirijo-san and Shirogane-san? They’ve gotta be the closest out of all the people that butterfly guy showed us, right?” 

Sae thought back to the painful vision of Shirogane and Kirijo. They looked to be in awful shape. If demons really were running rampant, there was no way they’d last until morning. “Good call, Sakamoto-kun. How does that sound, Tatsuya-san?” She looked back at him, as he gave a quick nod of approval. Sae nodded back, revving the engine, before her Persona increased speed. Sae shook her head, chuckling to herself. She knew that Ren brought some strange factors with him, but this was definitely going above and beyond. Still, maybe this entire ‘Persona’ experience wouldn’t be too bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, just for reference, the Persona-users listed are:  
Toudou Naoya  
Sonomura Maki  
Mayuzumi Yukino  
Yoshizawa and Maruki  
Naoto & Mitsuru, as stated.  
Adachi Tohru, as stated.
> 
> Normally I would just let people guess, but sometimes it just helps to know, y'know?
> 
> Also Sae's moveset is reminescent of her 'Leviathan' skills- in addition to nuclear.


	10. Wild Style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren has doubts, Akechi seems confident, and Aigis slowly uncovers the details about the 'world' they've appeared in.

Ren had always prided himself in being strong. Strong willed, confident with his choices, and unafraid of his consequences.

So, why did this feel so wrong? 

The barrel of his gun was pressed against the face of the Shadow taking the guise of the angel Gabriel. 

The battle was hard, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He had just been used to having a team to back him up, but after his… revelation, a team was something that he was going to have some trouble getting the hang of. 

“Why are you hesitating?” Akechi hissed from behind him. “You’ve done this before. Pull the trigger, and end it’s pathetic life. It’s just a Shadow.” Ren felt a hand press against his back, before Akechi’s own arm snaked against Ren’s own, Akechi’s hand overlapping Ren’s as he pulled down on the trigger. 

The angel smiled weakly. _”I do not blame you, child. I remember the day when we were one. I know that there is still h-”_ Akechi’s finger slammed down on the trigger, as the shadow’s head became nothing but dark mist, and the rest of its body did the same- albeit much slower than the ones in Palaces. It didn’t feel the same, though. There was some… oppressive feeling nagging at him, telling him that he had just been forced to make the wrong choice. His throat was dry, before he ducked away from Akechi, running behind a rock before he started dry-heaving. 

Just a shadow. It was just a shadow. 

Then why had it been acting so realistic? It didn’t seem to be following orders. It had begged for Ren to stop fighting the entire time. Each attack was filled with regret, and at some point it seemed like his opponent had been intentionally weakening his strikes the closer Ren got to losing. Shadows didn’t pull their punches. Whatever he had just obliterated, it had been alive, and innocent. His heart was racing. Doubt started to fill his head, before Akechi called out to him. 

“It was just a shadow, Ren.” Akechi kicked the slowly deteriorating body, before summoning his own Persona and obliterating it even further to emphasize his point. Ren stared at his companion with a look of horror, before Akechi continued. “It was obviously being controlled by your ‘friends’. More proof that they’re working for whoever’s in charge of the shadows, yeah?” 

Ren nodded, weakly. What was wrong with him? He needed to get a hold of himself. The more time he wasted, the more he’d just find himself second-guessing and eventually getting himself hurt. It wasn’t like trusting Akechi was easy, but it seemed to be the best option. 

“Fine, fine.” Ren wandered back over to Akechi, looking around. “Well, detective. Where do you think they went?” 

“Well, probably towards the city. Besides, maybe you can find a way out there too, as long as they don’t get there first and trap you here.” Akechi mumbled, before gripping Ren by the wrist, starting to pull him along. They began to continue their journey, the two of them walked in silence for a while. Ren’s mind slowly listing off the things that felt… off. The most obvious being the weapon he was using. 

His cognitive pistols, ranging from the first one he ever held to the one he wielded against Yaldabaoth, all felt the same. Whatever he imagined it to feel like- the recoil, kick, strength, and whatnot- he had control over that. So he knew what one of his pistols felt like. The one that Akechi had given him… was different. Which meant it wasn’t a cognitive weapon. Especially the way it had torn through that Shadow. It didn’t stand a chance, in hindsight. Ren glanced over at Akechi, who seemed to be marching forwards with a pensive expression on his face. 

Ren finally brought up the question that hadn’t left his mind. 

“So, Akechi. You didn’t answer my question before. How are you alive?” 

The brown-haired man turned to look at Ren, giving him a devious smirk. “Didn’t I say that would be answered la-” He was cut off as Joker casually brought a knife to Akechi’s back, continuing to walk along. The air grew tense. 

“Tell me.” Ren muttered. He needed to know. He had to know how Akechi was standing right in front of him. He knew that Akechi died back in Shido’s palace, and in- 

Akechi’s movements were swift, Ren finding himself pinned to the ground before he even realized it. He felt his face grind against the cold, darkened and destroyed ground, before Akechi leaned in close, hissing in his ear. 

“Watch your tone, Amamiya. You’re not the only Wild Card anymore, so don’t get cocky.” 

Ren immediately suppressed his curious urges. Although suppressed didn’t mean he was entirely satisfied. He’d just wait until later. Obviously pissing off Akechi was a bad idea. He knew how strong Black Mask was, and since his and Akechi’s Personas had changed… 

“Oh, Akechi. Speaking of, I should probably find the Velvet Room.” Ren mumbled, as Akechi slowly let his rival up to his feet. 

“...Velvet Room…?” Akechi asked, tilting his head to the side. 

Did Akechi not know what the Velvet Room was? He was a Wild Card like Ren, right? Unless… maybe because he had been directly manipulated by Yaldabaoth, then he hadn’t been given any sort of guidance from either a fake or real Igor. “Oh, that’s where I got my Personas. Since I got this new variation of Arsene, I should probably tell Lavenza, so that she could put it in the Persona Compendium. Maybe she’d be able to help us, too.” 

Akechi rolled his eyes. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I mean, have you gotten any real help from the Velvet Room? Sure, they’ve given you power, but they’ve also let you be deceived time and time again, it seems like.” 

Ren couldn’t deny that. The Velvet Room didn’t seem… especially reliable. He didn’t want to leave Lavenza alone, though. “...Would I even be able to get to it, anyways?” He mumbled. Akechi wrapped an arm around Ren’s shoulder, causing the dark haired man to tense up. 

“Probably not.” Ren mumbled, defeated. 

“Cheer up, Joker. Besides, we’ve reached the city.” Akechi patted the other Wild Card on the back, before shoving him forwards slightly. Ren stumbled, before looking at the decrepit sight before him. The city was ruined. And what made it even worse was the constant sound of gunfire. They ducked away, before Ren slowly peeked out to the side. He recognized her from his interrogation, and later when they had first attempted to fight Nyarlathotep. Of course, now she was marching through a forest of demonic corpses, all of them riddled with bullets. "Wait... I think she's on our side." He said, stupidly. 

“On our side?” Akechi hissed. “She’s committing genocide, Ren! Now duck!” He pulled Ren out of sight, as the anti-shadow weapon continued to march forwards, her eyes scanning the area. She approached closer to Ren’s location, her light footfalls contrasted by the heavy mechanical whirring coming from her body. She stopped near Ren and Akechi sat before her head snapped in the opposite direction. 

“Shadows detected. This place has been heavily overrun.” She stated, calmly, before in an extremely inhuman burst of speed, she darted off in the other direction- her movement soon followed by the screaming of more demons. 

Ren frowned. He had so much trouble killing that one angel, and here she was- slaughtering them like it was nothing. Maybe she wasn’t on their side. Sure, she had been manipulated a bit by the fake Kirijo, but maybe this was her true nature. Ren adjusted his mask, before stepping out front. 

“Come, Joker-Arsene!” He yelled, his mask flickering away into purple flame as his modified Persona hovered behind him. 

The robot girl turned around, her eyes widening. “Affirmative. Powerful shadow detected. But… Amamiya Ren has been confirmed to be a human. Meaning that the logical conclusion is that you have been possessed, or are not Amamiya Ren.” 

“Sorry to disappoint, you bucket of bolts.” Ren growled, twirling his knife in one hand. “I’m me, and I refuse to sit back and watch you slaughter all of these creatures!” He growled, sprinting towards the living weapon. 

* * *

**Several hours prior.**

An indescript amount of time had passed since the destruction of the Kirijo Building. Aigis had found herself alone, laying without any contact to her friends, or fellow allies. It was a terrifying feeling, being left alone once again, and she had found herself shackled to a wall by what seemed to be sentient Shadows. Or… well, that description didn’t fit. Shadow’s were inherently sentient, but these were… complex. They talked like humans, bantered amongst themselves. Aigis kept her eyes closed, playing like she was asleep. Chances were that they would have stopped talking if she was realized to be conscious. 

“So, uh. We’re sure she’s human?” One voice muttered. Gruff. She’d suggest masculine, but shadows didn’t assign themselves genders. 

“The hell are you talkin’ about? ‘Course she is. She’s got a squishy human face, and uh…” A second voice. It seemed… wetter. Which didn’t make much sense upon thinking, considering that as far as she knew, they were on dry land. 

“That’s it, dumbass. Only a human face. She doesn’t got any… y’know.” 

“...You checked? I mean, I ain’t never seen a human before, but I’m not gonna judg-” 

“She’s NAKED, genius! Chick’s built like a doll!” 

“Don’t she look peaceful though? Kinda like an angel. Oh- shit, you don’t think we grabbed one’a the demons from _Shijima_? I really don’t want Archangels raining down on us.” Shijima wasn’t a location that she was aware of. Her brow furrowed slightly in thought. That meant that she really was in a different location, however, it seemed as if these Shadows were afraid of whatever creatures came from ‘Shijima’. Perhaps she could use this to her advantage. 

“...Lord Abbadon is gonna be pissed.” That was new information as well. She recognized the name ‘Abbadon’. It belonged to one of the many Personas that _he_ used when he fought along SEES. She had never summoned him herself, however. She finally opened her eyes, staring at the two Shadows that were guarding her. They had taken the form of ‘Personas’ it seemed like. One of Orobas, the other of Forneus. That explained the certain ‘wetness’ she had heard earlier. She tilted her head to the side slightly, as the Orobas Shadow turned to face her, stepping back slightly. 

“Woah! Uh, glad you’re awake, lady? Just wanted to ask somethin’... where’re you from?” She paused, as if deliberating her answer, before answering confidently. 

“Shijima.” 

The two Shadows took several large steps away from her, chuckling nervously, before gathering in a small huddle. They spoke in whispered tones, as if intending for her not to hear. Luckily, her hearing was much better than the average. 

“Oh 

That was a question she didn’t suspect. However, in hindsight, it seemed reasonable. She frowned. Well, if they took the forms of what she considered Personas, perhaps she should tell a ‘half-truth’. “Athena.” She replied, carefully. She readied herself for combat, in case her apparent identity and location of origin had conflicted in some way. Luckily for her, she was faced by the option. 

“Pallas Athena!?” The Forneus Shadow screamed, before slapping the Orobas with it’s fin. “Let her loose! Sorry, Athena-sama! You just look different than what we imagined- cuter- ah, not to be condecendin’ or anythin’! You’re v-very beautiful, Athena-sama--” 

The Orobas let go of her shackles- which she could have most likely broken from on her own free will, but that was besides the point. She folded her arms, feigning impatience. “Please be quiet, and take me to ‘Abbadon-sama’. Now.” That might be her best shot at getting solutions. Or, if this ‘Abbadon’ was a particularly dangerous shadow, she may need to dispose of it quickly. However, this was giving her something to think about. Apparently this place was split into factions, each one having their own Shadows. The Shadows here seemed to take the form of Personas, although she didn't totally understand the circumstances, however- this wasn't cause for it to be uncommon. Additionally, humans were rare, if not extinct, and were either used as some sort of... commodity, or some sort of food. The latter seemed likely, although they were both disturbing. Which meant that she needed to get out of here with whoever she could. She just... needed to define 'here' and 'whoever' first. 

“Yes ma’am!” Orobas snapped to attention, before leading her through a series of winding corridors, the Forneus at her back. Surrounded, and yet she didn’t feel in danger. Of course, not until they reached a more ‘common area’. Shadows filled them to an almost ridiculous extent. She would need to clear this entire area. If any of them got loose and harmed any humans, then things might get catastrophic quickly. She must not have realized she was scowling, as she felt the Forneus nudge against her back. 

“We’re really sorry ‘bout this. Honest! We’ve been scoopin’ up humans to give to Lord Abbadon, and we found you layin’ next to another one, so we just assumed…!” 

The Orobas huffed, it’s hooves clopping against the hard floor. “Aw, dammit. You were probably protectin’ the human, weren’t you…! This gets worse and worse. Please don’t kill us, Athena-sama…!” 

Aigis turned up her nose slightly. “I’ll consider it.” This was a bit fun, in all honesty. She had never considered herself an ‘actor’ like Yukari-san, and yet she had always been curious. However, she wished she discovered the blessings of ‘acting’ at a later point. She was lead to what seemed to be a massive pit in the compound that these Shadows considered home, before a horrifying sight began to unfold before her. She saw Kujikawa Rise hanging limp from a wire, swinging back and forth, as a gigantic maw began to rise from the dark pit. Green and pustuous, it’s mouth dripping with saliva, and two gigantic yellow eyes glaring up at the idol like it was a piece of meat. Aigis braced herself, ready to fly up and grab the navigator before she became nothing more than food, before the Orobas spoke up. 

“L-Lord Abbadon!” 

The yellow eyes turned to glare at the newcomers. 

“T-this is Athena-sama. She wanted to speak with you…” 

Another long pause as the gigantic, monstrous Shadow stared at Aigis. The silence was deafening, so she quickly spoke up. 

“Kujikawa-san is mine. I would suggest you give her to me. 

The giant demon stared at her, before letting out a low, gutteral roar. She winced, before the other Shadows began swarming into the room. Apparently that was a ‘kill’ command. 

She braced herself, before focusing. “Come Athena! I need your help!” A billowing pillar of blue light surrounded her before the form of her Persona shown above her. She stared at it, confused for a moment. Not Athena. Palladion. What had happened to her Persona? She had dropped her guard for a moment, before a hoof slammed into her, sending her tumbling back. She watched as a huge wave of Shadows rushed towards her, and she found herself firing wildly, hoping that whatever bullets connected worked out in her favor. It was overwhelming, to the point where she felt like fighting was no longer an option. "Heat Wave!" She yelled, as Palladion swung it's spear, causing the flimsy ground in front of the pit to crack and break. Several shadows found themselves falling, as she used her inset rockets to shoot upwards towards Rise, grabbing her and hovering in the air, still trying to shoot down Shadows, especially the ones that could fly. "...Okay. Perhaps now is time for a tactical retreat..." 

* * *

She sprinted out of the compound, her body covered with a tar-like substance. Those Shadows had been tough, but she could handle tough. After a while though, she had needed to retreat. The Shadows were endless, her Persona was weak, and she was running low on ammunition. She tapped Rise gently. Palladion didn’t have much in terms of healing, but she could force out a spell. Kujikawa’s eyes fluttered open, before she coughed. She looked dizzy, before finally focusing on Aigis. 

“Aigis… san…?” She whispered. Her voice was hoarse. Aigis nodded carefully, before holding the young woman down when she tried to stand up. 

“You’re weak. Just wait here and try to recover. Can you summon your Persona?” 

“I… wait. This is wrong.” Rise slowly became more lucid, as the faint, ethereal figure of Himiko flashed behind her, its ‘lens’ falling in front of Rise’s face. “My Persona has been reset. And yours. Something is very wrong. This doesn’t feel like a forceful change either, and more of… an aspect of this place.” 

Aigis cocked her head, confused. “What do you mean?” 

Rise huffed. “I’ll need to find out more about ‘here’. I can sense a few others. Chie and Kanji-kun are the ones I can pick out from memory… a few more Persona-users as well, and--” She suddenly paused, before grasping her head. Aigis gasped, reaching out. Rise gave her a weak smile, brushing Aigis’ hand away. 

“I’m fine, I’m fine. Just… be careful. I sense something bad, but I don’t know what. Could you…?” 

Aigis nodded, standing up. “I will go on reconnaissance. Stay here and attempt to gather more information, Kujikawa-san. Contact me if you are in danger.” 

The idol nodded weakly, before flashing Aigis a confident smile, despite the tired look in her eyes and the stress riddling her body. “Let’s out on each other, Aigis-san! We can do this!” The smile faltered for a moment, as she held a hand up to her mouth to cough, as Aigis ducked out of the abandoned building, beginning her mission. She took down any Shadows in her way. After all, if any got past her, they could make their way to Rise, and she no longer even had the slightest hint of combat capability. 

She continued carefully, before hearing a harsh voice in her ear. 

_”Aigis-san! Be careful!”_

The Anti-Shadow Weapon stopped at the sound of Rise’s voice. “...What for?” She asked, looking around. 

_”Himiko is sensing something bad…! You should run.”_

Aigis frowned, before a figure stepped out from behind some of the rubble, causing her to turn around quickly to face him. The look on his face seemed murderous. Aigis quickly recognized the figure as Amamiya Ren. He summoned his Persona, and Aigis felt a wave of energy that was both nostalgic, entirely new, and utterfly terrifying. This wasn't a normal Persona, and yet... 

_”He’s powerful. But I can't get an honest reading. It's like... I don't know, a super-powerful shadow, or something." _

“Affirmative. Powerful shadow detected. But… Amamiya Ren has been confirmed to be a human. Meaning that the logical conclusion is that you have been possessed, or are not Amamiya Ren.” 

The one with Amamiya Ren’s face snarled, before asserting that he was, indeed, who he seemed to be, before also asserting that he sympathized with the shadows. That was strange, but she had no time to consider why until he darted forwards with a ferocity akin to a demon. 

Aigis frowned as her assailant got closer. “Apologies, Kujikawa-san. Running is not an option. I will have to fight!” She stepped back, before blue smoke billowed from her body. “I call upon you…!” The smoke formed into the shape of a humanoid Persona, white hair covering one of its eyes, and a pair of headphones adorning it’s head. A scarf was wrapped tightly around its neck, as robot-like limbs stretched freely, before reaching towards the sky. The form pulled at a lyre strapped against it’s back, before strumming a few harsh notes alongside the flicker of flames as it’s red eyes glared forwards. A ghastly wail emanated from a speaker on its chest, causing her attacker to falter for a moment. 

“Please, help me once more! _Orpheus_!” 


	11. Velvet Interlude I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the Velvet Room...
> 
> This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was meant to be a bit of a shorter tag-on to chapter 10, but I ended up writing a bit more than I intended so, uh. Now it's Chapter 11. 
> 
> Ta-daa..

Igor sighed quietly, as he shuffled through the cards in front of him. A lot had happened, and it seemed as if there wasn’t much he could do. The Wild Cards had vanished into a place unknown, the ‘Other Side’, a realm of reality that was meant to be forgotten to time. Narukami Yu, a young man who had taken on the chance to discover the truths of the world, had found his soul overwritten by his ‘other self’ Izanagi. He closed his eyes quietly. That was a fate even he didn’t expect. Nyarlathotep’s machinations forced him to summon his Persona under intense duress, and doing so meant that the power he tried to control was much, much greater than the power he was slated to wield.

There was a reason they had limits for these sorts of things. 

The issue with the ‘Other Side’ was the fact that nobody could make contact over there. It was essentially Nyarlathotep’s ‘domain’, filled to the brim with demons. Contact would be… difficult. His brow furrowed, before he was calmly interrupted. 

“I have a question, Master.”

Margaret’s voice called out over the crumbling Velvet Room. “Elizabeth has since abandoned her duties. Why has she been allowed to return?” It wasn’t a malicious question. After all, Margaret had been nothing but… Margaret to her siblings this entire ordeal. A bit stressed, but kept a calm face throughout it all. 

Elizabeth turned to face Margaret, before glancing over to her Master. She had been wondering that as well. She was no longer an Attendant, especially since she had chosen to throw it away for her guest. Igor sighed quietly. 

“Her bonds as family hold stronger than her bonds to this room.” 

Margaret paused for a moment, before nodding, satisfied with what she heard. 

The Velvet Room was silent for a while longer. Most of the denizens seemed to mill about idly, the only one seeming irritated was the ever-curious Elizabeth. Igor tapped his fingers on the desk once, calling her over. 

“You have questions as well.” The old man stated. 

Elizabeth nodded. “Obviously.” She murmured. The Velvet Room was messy. It was too messy. Was Nyarlathotep even strong enough to do… this, alone? While the dark ‘ooze’ was certainly his doing, it also seemed as if it’s very foundation was beginning to crumble. “I feel as if there’s some more foul play at hand.” That statement alone caused his brow to furrow. Elizabeth felt a bit confident that she had potentially thought of something her master had not, but felt a bit guilty afterwards. After all, she could be entirely wrong. 

“Well, allow me to recap. The Crawling Chaos impersonated Kirijo in order to cause distrust, and later chaos among the Persona-wielders, correct?” 

“...That is correct, yes.” 

“And he opened up a portal to the… Other Side, you called it? Although, I wish my siblings and I were present for that…” 

Igor shook his head solemnly. “It was not your choice, nor your journey.” 

Elizabeth seemed dissatisfied, but continued. “Think about this, master. I can comprehend the Crawling Chaos attempting to destroy some of the most prominent Persona-wielders in one fell swoop.” She began, folding her arms. “I can comprehend him releasing demons upon our world. Such violence and confusion will lead to chaos.All paths lead to ruin. Legitimate ruin. I… I know that me nor my sisters know all about your previous conflicts in the past, but wouldn’t the destruction of all humanity destroy both The Master Above Masters and…?” 

Igor nodded. “But suppose the demons make up for the gap? They are just as conscious as us, the humans, or our guests.” 

“It would be a world completely ruled by chaos, but… something doesn’t seem right. This feels… rushed. As if a deadline is attempting to be met, rather than simply waiting for the human race to crumble.” 

“The suggestion that we are dealing with forces beyond the Crawling Chaos is both extremely troubling, and very unlikely. After all, I do not recall anything greater than Nyarlathotep. However, let us see what fate has dealt us.” 

Igor drummed his fingers on his desk, before slowly pulling out his deck. Gloved hands carefully pulled out a card, before it was laid out in front of her. The card itself made Elizabeth’s already pale skin blanche, her hands trembling. Igor seemed troubled by this as well. 

“No.” Elizabeth whispered. Igor nodded. “If these cards are correct, then the humans have no chance! We must step out from our post.” 

“Elizabeth. You strive for justice. That much is clear. However, I want you to listen to me. We can not interfere.” His voice was stern. “We can only observe…” 

“To hell with that!” Elizabeth snapped. That got the attention of the rest of the Velvet Room’s denizens. Margaret especially, who had been in the process of speaking to Lavenza, shot back a glare that could freeze hell itself. Elizabeth didn’t mind it. “Humans are capable of so much, but not alone!” She cried. “That card signifies much worse than chaos, you know that! He was barely able to create a seal, and you’re expecting humanity to right itself with no dependable Wild Card in sight?” 

“He has many aspects. You know that his reach is vas-” 

“Aspects, aspects, aspects! If those are his aspects, then what are we? We must be aspects of Philemon, meaning that we must act! If the Crawling Chaos can have a thousand pieces on the board at any given moment, and we are given less than a fraction of that, wouldn’t you want to at least attempt to even the scales?” 

The butterfly resting on the table twitched carefully. 

“And do what, Elizabeth? What power do you have?” Igor said carefully. 

“What power…? What power!? Master, I am a Ruler of Power! I am the closest thing to a ‘Wild Card’ that these humans have!” Elizabeth screamed. Margaret stomped over, grabbing her younger sister by the shoulder. 

“That is enough.” The oldest Velvet attendant growled. “I understand your apprehension, but are you truly so foolish to stand against Master Philemon, and Master Igor?” 

Igor’s eyes fell upon the desk, as he carefully returned the card to the desk. “I will not have you throw your fragile life away. We will sit and observe. Nothing more.” 

Elizabeth’s gaze turned to stone, as she shook off Margaret’s hand. “Do you not care for your guest! His soul has been corrupted, and you would rather sit by idly and watch, dearest sister?” She spat the words out, causing Margaret to take a step back. Her lip quivered for a moment, before hardening into a grimace. 

“You know nothing of me. You abandoned me, Lavenza, and Master Igor. We were captured and thrown into the depths of the Collective Unconscious, while you pranced about and played hero!” 

“I-” Elizabeth paused, before looking over to her youngest sister. “I… I didn’t realize. Is this true?” 

Lavenza nodded slowly. “We were all locked within the depths of Mementos. My guest managed to set us free, but my body had been torn in two, and we were all severely weakened…” 

Elizabeth mulled over this for a moment. She had been so carefree, and had truly left her family behind to suffer? “I am so sor-” She was shortly cut off. 

Margaret stomped her heel. Anger filled her expression. “Apologies mean nothing! You continue to disobey, because you believe you are above us! Well, listen to me! You are not above me, Theodore, Lavenza, or our Masters! I lost you once, and I can not lose you again.” 

The two sisters stared at each other for a moment, before Elizabeth shook her head. “There is only one way I can make things right. If I was not there to save you then, I will save you now. I will see you soon, Sister.” She turned around, and strutted to the exit of the Velvet Room, pulling the door open as the darkened starscape of the Sea of Souls stared in front of her. “...Hello old friend. May I traverse you once more?” She didn’t wait for a response, before doing a graceful hop into the endless Sea, vanishing from sight. 

“Elizabeth, don’t you dare-!” She stared forwards, before she heard a gentle cough behind her. 

“Let her go, Margaret.” Igor mumbled. “She has made her choice. I just hope fate agrees with her.” 

“Perhaps she has a point…” Lavenza murmured, quietly. “I have seen an unjust game before, but the scales seem massively out of our favor. What happens if we lose?” 

Igor looked over at his youngest, reaching out to run a hand through her hair. “We won’t. I promise…” 

The blue butterfly resting on the desk glowed for a faint moment, as a tired voice wavered throughout the air. _”You… all... out... time. Will…called and fused...once more. Humanity...end… I...am sorry…”_

The Velvet Room grew quiet, before Margaret drew a quiet breath. Nobody knew how to exactly respond to such a cryptic warning. Especially one that seemed so morbid and devoid of hope. “...Master Philemon. What do you mean?” She crouched in front of the desk, delicately prodding the butterfly with her finger. Igor gently brushed her hand away. “Master Philemon, will Elizabeth be okay? What do you mean by ‘fuse’? A Persona? A Shadow? Master, please--” 

“That’s enough, Margaret. His energy is waning more and more. We must let him rest.” Igor’s brow furrowed. “However, this is… unheard of. Although I suppose there are things that I do not know.” 

Margaret headed towards the door, before swinging it open. “I need to follow Elizabeth. I have lost my sister once. I refuse to do so a second time.” She turned, staring at Lavenza. “Keep your Compendium with you at all times, Lavenza. Protect Master Igor and the other denizens of the room. I will be back with Elizabeth shortly. And…” She turned back away. “I will try my best not to interfere, my Master.” 

There was a brief pause, before Igor chuckled. The tension seemed to fade slightly, as he gently waved her off. “You are a symbol of Strength, Margaret. It will do you well to never forget that. We will cross paths soon.” The eldest sister understood what he meant. As of now, she was like Elizabeth. Once she crossed that threshold and joined the humans, she would only be an Attendant in hindsight. She had her own selfish reasons for helping, but perhaps that was for the best. Selfishness was a human trait, and this was a human issue. She took a calm breath, before taking her first step into the unknown, falling gracefully into the endless stream of souls. She spun slightly, her Compendium floating around her, before she found herself in a sitting position, checking it like a map. Her brow furrowed with determination. 

“My guest. No... Yu. I will free your soul from its shackles, I promise. And then I will free your friends.”


	12. Nanjo's Angels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanjo Kei assembles a small team to combat Izanagi and put a stop to the 'Tokyo Incident'.

He’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t a little bit nervous about this situation.

It had been years since he had gotten involved with demons. Still, the Nanjo Group had been keeping a tight eye on anything resembling ‘demonic activity’. Their associations with the Kirijo Group had been instrumental in that process, although he had to admit that while his discussions concerning Shadows had been passed on from the strict and commanding Kirijo Takeharu to his somehow more strict and commanding daughter Kirijo Mitsuru had been jarring at first, they had developed a sort of rapport that he had come to appreciate. 

Which is why the past series of events had troubled Nanjo Kei greatly. He knew Kirijo to be pragmatic, well-educated, and extremely intelligent. She was an incredibly capable woman, so personally picking a fight against a group of individuals who had the ability to alter one's mind with apparent ease was… ridiculous. The ‘calling card’ that had been leaked by the Kirijo Group played on a small monitor in front of him, the silluoettes of two young women staring ominously towards the viewer. The original viewer in this case was intended to be Kirijo Mitsuru, but for some reasons they hadn’t wasted any time getting this into public hands. 

_"Kirijo Mitsuru, reigning head of the Kirijo Group. Corporate leader of arrogance, greed, and ignorance. You have committed the grave act of--threatening us, and provoking our ire. You claim to be acting in the face of justice, and see us as nothing more than terrorists, despite being the only one acting aggressively in this situation. So, I simply ask you this: What will you do once that 'justice' is stripped away?"_

He adjusted his glasses, scowling slightly. Threats? He’d wonder if Kirijo had gone insane, but there had to be more to this. The way the ‘Phantom Thief’ spoke gave some details about her identity. She spoke with a fairly formal tone, as if addressing someone that was her senior. Which meant that- potentially- the ‘Phantom Thieves’ were all collectively younger than Kirijo. That had been somewhat confirmed by Amamiya Ren being seventeen years old, but he knew that making snap assumptions wouldn’t solve anything. He already had people running any sort of facial or vocal recognition scans in an attempt to discern the identities of the ‘Phantom Thieves’, but that seemed like such a minute detail in this entire situation. Everyone else seemed to be reacting on impulse, as the reasons of why the Kirijo Group had leaked the calling card started falling into place. 

_”...You had given us one weeks time to discuss and comply with your ideals, we have decided to flip that pressure right back onto you. You have one week before we stage our assault on the Kirijo Group. You all have hearts that need to be changed, and before you realize it, we will be out the doors with our leader and your Treasure!"_

A scapegoat. 

The Phantom Thieves had been used as a scapegoat. 

The media had been eating up the narrative that the Phantom Thieves had ‘attacked’ the Kirijo Group, caused the destruction of the building, and had released a demonic threat upon Tokyo, and the rest of Japan. It was easy. The Phantom Thieves already had a tentative relationship with the public, and their little stunt on Christmas implied that- at least towards public perception- they were capable of summoning ‘demon lords’. It was easy to blame them. Of course, there were further issues. That being of one Narukami Yu. Due to information he had managed to discern- which was less than usual, as it seemed Kirijo seemed to be running a tighter ship than before- Narukami Yu and the other Inaba-based Persona-users had found themselves. While most cameras were unable to get a good enough image of Narukami to discern his identity, the talk of an ‘Izanagi’ matched the files on him. 

“The Persona is a reflection of one's inner self, essentially one’s ‘superego’. The Shadow is also a reflection of the inner self. It is born from the ‘id’, or ones basic, repressed, and feral instincts. However, there is a delicate balance. While a strong Persona-user operates with a strong ‘ego’ or mental balance, if either the ‘id’ or the ‘superego’ becomes too powerful, it will overtake the user and revert them into a Shadow or… whatever happened to Narukami. Essentially a ‘possession’. His moral ideals have been amplified for the extreme, to the point in which he no longer is ‘himself’, and is now brought forth solely by the ‘superego’. However, his soul is weakening, pulling him from the human unconscious and transforming him into a demon.” 

There was a pause, before the man sitting across from him yawned, stretching slightly. Kei watched as the man ran a hand through messy hair, pulling at the collar of his prison attire for a moment before leaning forwards with a grim smile on his face. 

“Which is why you called me. You know, I’d normally tell you to ‘fuck off’, but seeing Yu-kun again might be interesting. Especially if his little optimistic self got possessed by a super-demon.” 

Kei rolled his eyes slightly. “Adachi Tohru. You possess a similar ability to Narukami. Based on your confessions- which the courts deemed as ‘nonsensical’, you claimed to be gifted the abilities to enter televisions at will, and possessed an ability that took the form of ‘Magatsu-Izanagi’.” It was a bit of a lucky break that Adachi wasn’t considered insane, but outside of his assertions of televisions and Personas, he was incredibly lucid and tests determined him as sound of mind. Well, sound enough. 

Adachi smirked, although his eyes seemed to fill with a vague distaste as he drummed his fingers against his legs. “So you want to see an Izanagi v. Izanagi smackdown? The Persona versus the demon? Glad I could serve as your personal entertainment.” He leaned back, Kei watching carefully. They were close- and had resolved to not fight each other- but Adachi was known to be unpredictable. He could adapt to situations quickly, and hadn’t even been surprised when he learned that Kei was another Persona-user. He had just rolled his eyes and mumbled a few bored expletives to himself. So, this is where they found themselves, trapped in a close-quarters stalemate. 

“If I wanted you as entertainment, I would have watched idly as you attempted to fight those demons in prison. You’re lucky I decided to take you with me.” Kei snapped back, Adachi raising a bored eyebrow in response. The Nanjo head adjusted his glasses slightly before pulling out his phone, holding up a finger to signal Adachi to be quiet. 

“We’re picking up a few others.” He muttered, before dialing. It rang once. 

Twice. 

Finally, a voice picked up from the other side. Kei sighed quietly, relieved._”You have Mayazumi Yukino! How--”_ There was a brief pause as he heard the sound of… something screeching, before being forcefully silenced. _”Eugh. Sorry about that. Hey, Kei.”_ He was glad to hear the rough, collected voice of his former classmate, especially alive. 

“Mayazumi. It’s good to hear from you. Are you well?” 

_”Oh? Me? I’m just- ngh--!”_ The sound of thunder, before several distorted voices screaming in agony. He could hear her running for a moment, alongside another set of footsteps. _”I’m… ugh... wonderful, Kei. Perfect. You know, I came to Sumaru to get away from all this demonic bullshit, but guess what?”_

“There are demo--” 

_”There are DEMONS, Kei. Which, y’know, I can deal with, but I wish I would have used Durga a bit more, because now all of these Ziodynes are starting to give me a headache.”_

“Do you think you’ll be able to hold out for a little while longer? I may be able to reach you shortly, and we can make our way to the source.” 

While all of his classmates were powerful, Mayazumi was, admittedly, one of the smarter individuals that he had gotten acquainted with. She had a sense of responsibility, and while she did have her reckless side, when things got gritty- she was always reliable. Having her, alongside Tohru, would be a good change of pace. That, and it was hard to get a hold on the others. Kirishima Eriko was on some sort of ‘world tour’, although she had said that she would send ‘prayers and kisses’ his way in support when he had called. Uchida Tamaki had found herself posted in Sumaru City alongside Mayazumi, so the chances of finding her as well might be useful. He wasn’t sure what being a ‘Devil Summoner’ entailed, but he was in no position to be picky. Uesugi was… Uesugi, and most likely still back in Mikage-cho with Masao. Ayase Yuka seemed to be busy elsewhere, similarly to Kirishima, and Kido Reiji was… difficult to get a handle on in any sense. 

_”I’ll be fine. I’ve got my guardian angel fightin’ with me after all. She’s been keeping us, and the civvies safe.”_ Kei heard a soft voice speak in nervous protest off to the side, to which Yukino replied: _“Oh, come on, Maki! Don’t get shy now, you’re a lifesaver.”_

Kei’s eyes widened slightly. “Sonomura is with you? That’s a relief. Her healing capabilities are unmatched, it would seem.” 

_”Yeah, Maki’s great. Naorin is here too. You wanna say hi, Nao- nope, he’s busy. Really getting into burning up an Incubus. Sheesh. He’s getting that weird look in his eyes. You know that thing he does? Where he gets really intense and scary, and- nope, he’s looking at me now. Don’t scowl at me, Naorin. Don’t smile either. Stop making faces. Stop it. Stop-”_ Kei rolled his eyes, before prying the conversation back to something practical. 

“So, I should make room for Toudou, yourself, and Sonomura. We’re going to Tokyo, ground zero. That’s the source of the demonic outbreak, and the ‘possession’ incidents.” 

_”...Possession?”_

“I’ll explain on the way. What’s the status on Tamaki?” 

_”I don’t think Tammy is gonna come with us. Someone’s gotta sit back and defend Sumaru. I’d say leave Maki too, but we need a healer, since Naorin and I kinda suck at it, and it’s not really your strong suit either.”_

“I can heal.” Kei retorted, indignantly. 

_”Just because you can doesn’t mean you’re good at it, Nanjo.”_ Yukino replied calmly, before she suddenly grunted, her grunt shifting into a yell as he heard the roar of flames. The phone clattered to the ground, giving him a better chance to hear things outside of Yukino. _”Gah- dammit! That’s a Throne! I forgot! Back off with the fire spells!”_

He heard a gentle voice cry out. _“Naorin! Yukino-san! Please stay back!”_ He could recognize that voice anywhere. Sonomura Maki. He smiled gently, before the action continued. _”Please help me, Persona! Grydyne!”_ He heard the ground itself begin to rumble, before the sounds of two other voices rushing in for the kill. He hadn’t heard anyone use a Gravity spell in a long time. It had also been a while since he had heard anyone punch a demon, but based off the blunt impacts that he was hearing, it seemed like Yukino and Naoya had resorted to ‘stomping the shit’ out of an extremely powerful demonic entity. 

He heard the phone slowly get lifted off the ground, before a man’s voice spoke into it. _”Just killed a Throne. Hey, Kei.”_ Toudou Naoya. Their unofficial ‘leader’ during their exploits with demons. 

“Hello, Toudou. Are you all well?” 

_”Maki-chan is casting a healing spell. It seems like we’ve braved the worst of it for now. So… where are you?”_

Kei smiled to himself, before chuckling. “Look up, Toudou.” 

_”...Oh.”_

* * *

Naoya stared upwards at the jet-black helicopter hovering above them. He saw a familiar figure poke out, dressed in a business suit and a blue tie labelled with ‘#1’. Nanjo Kei. An old friend. Naoya hadn’t planned on coming to Sumaru City, but he wanted to visit Maki after she posted her psychiatry practice there. It… just so happened the Apocalypse seemed to occur at the same time. Funny how that worked out. 

He glanced to the side at Maki, smiling gently as she walked next to him, squeezing his wrist. Her brown hair was cut into a short, pixie style. Her wide, dark eyes stared upwards, as she nervously chewed on her bottom lip. 

“Kei isn’t alone. There’s another Persona-user in there.” She said, quietly. Yukino wandered up next to them, folding her arms. 

“Someone we know?” She asked. 

“No, and their power seems dangerous… unpredictable, even.” Maki responded, as Naoya watched as the helicopter landed in front of them, and Kei hopped down, approaching them. There was a beat of silence between all of them, before Yukino laughed, wrapping the Nanjo Head in a hug, which Kei tentatively returned. 

“It’s been years, Nanjo! How’ya been?” She asked, finally letting him go, as he patted out the wrinkles in his suit. 

“I’ve been better.” He looked over at Naoya and Maki, nodding slightly. “Still, I’m glad to see you’re unharmed. I need a group of Persona-users, and you are the most reliable ones. Well, Mayazumi came to mind first, and Sonomura is incredibly useful, although I suppose you aren’t too bad, Toudou.” 

Naoya frowned slightly. “You still don’t mince words, huh? More importantly, Maki said she sensed another Persona-user with you. Made a new friend?” 

Kei wrinkled his nose, before shaking his head. “Not a friend in the slightest. An ally, loosely. He should be useful in our upcoming battle.” He gestured backwards as a lanky man in prison garb stepped out, giving them a dry smile and a casual wave. Naoya’s eyes narrowed. He had seen this man before, but where…? 

“Adachi Tohru?” Yukino hissed. “Didn’t he murder two people?” Naoya gave Kei a dubious look as he waited for his response. 

“That is correct. However, his power is incredibly useful. And, are you sure that we can’t take Uchida Takamaki with us?” He raised an eyebrow. 

“We need someone here to protect Sumaru City. She, Serizawa-san, and Baofu should be enough to cover the outbreak here. They’re strong enough on their own, we were honestly just a B-team until now.” Yukino responded. “Besides, if you want to fight the source, we’ve got a pretty good team right here. Right, Naorin?” She glanced over at Naoya, who nodded calmly. He hadn’t heard much about Serizawa and Baofu, but apparently they knew their way around Personas, and it wasn’t like the demons that were attacking were extremely tough. 

Kei nodded, satisfied with that answer, before he turned around and started heading back towards the helicopter. He and Maki sat next to each other, both of them keeping a careful eye on Adachi, who seemed to be waiting until everyone else had gotten in before doing anything. 

Adachi smiled at Yukino, giving her a wink. “Pleasure to be workin’ with you. You’re a journalist, right? I can tell by the way you’re keepin’ that camera tight against you. I like that.” 

Yukino scowled, before hopping in the helicopter, sitting next to Maki. “Shut it. Alright, Kei. Let’s get rollin’, okay?” 

Adachi frowned slightly, before shrugging it off with a chuckle and hopping into the helicopter as well. “Well, ‘partners’. I hope we get along. After all, how are we supposed to win if everyone’s so apprehensive, right?” 

Naoya rolled his eyes, one hand reaching up to fiddle with his earring slightly. Maki squeezed his hand. Kei shook his head, before the helicopter started lifting off. 

“I’ll give you a brief overview on the way over. And… everyone watch out. The closer we get to Tokyo, we might start experiencing… stormy weather.” He glanced at the others, as Naoya nodded with a wry smile. 

“Let’s go help save the world, then.”


	13. Throw Away Your Mask

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren and Aigis fight.

The power of the Wild Card was given to a select type of person. A person who was essentially a blank slate. One without purpose, aimlessly wandering amongst the edges of society without any sort of connections to anyone or anything. The Wild Card, the Fool, was supposed to take that lack of connections- that blank slate personality that would only be perceived as negative to the rest of the world, and turn it into a new starting point. Form new bonds, birth new power. The Wild Card was a symbol of infinite power, and furthermore, infinite possibility when it came to creation. The Wild Card was a positive force in the world, a tether that kept the human mind connected to one another.

So. 

What happened when two Wild Cards used their beautiful power for the sake of destroying one another? 

There was what could be only described as a sonic boom as the two Wild Cards clashed against each other, Joker’s blacked blade grinding against the metallic arm of Aigis. The two of them had their eyes locked onto one another, thoughts racing through their heads. Joker’s teeth were gritted together, his jaw tightening into an uncharacteristic snarl. His eyes were red, practically glowing. His face contorted into an expression that could only be described as murderous. The pretense of a mischievous Trickster tossed to the side, nothing but a puppet for some larger entity now. 

“Eigaon!” He spat, as the darkened shadow of his Persona swept above him, sending a wave of dark energy crashing forwards, slamming into Aigis’ hull. The Anti-Shadow Weapon was sent spiraling back, a loud cry echoing from her body. She crashed into one of the abandoned buildings- or what she thought was abandoned- a group of Kodama flitted from the crater she left behind. She coughed, robotic joints squeaking as she pulled herself up to her feet. 

“...When you fall. Get right back up…” She mumbled to herself, as Orpheus formed behind her once more. 

“Agi!” She cried, as her Persona sent a wave of fire towards Amamiya. He swiftly dodged to the side, a grin on his face. “Agilao!” She added, a larger wave rushing towards him. She grit her teeth, the blue mist from her summoning flaring in every direction. “Now! Agidyne!” The Persona screamed, the heat from its body shooting out in every direction as he ducked and weaved around it with angelic grace. He rolled to the side, before pointing at Aigis, his Persona swooping towards her. 

“Arsene! Dream needle!” He yelled, before she felt her skin get pierced. Her eyes grew heavy, before she quickly shook herself out of it. She could not sleep. She would not sleep. However, she was but a second too slow, as one of the demonic wings of his Persona sliced through her torso- a notable gash in its wake. She stumbled backwards, gripping one of the edges of a decrepit door frame. 

“Orpheus! Cadenza!” She yelled, as the groaning form of the master of strings shot from behind her once more, its wiry fingers slamming on the strings of the lyre, sending a hollow melody echoing throughout the wreckage. Aigis felt herself restoring, and her vision was briefly obscured by a wave of green energy. She felt lighter, truly faster, and suddenly used her increased speed to her advantage, her form becoming nothing more than a blur as it shot towards Amamiya, a solid metal fist becoming in close contact with his stomach. Aigis heard him cough, and felt the warm feeling of blood splash against her face. She didn’t stop her assault as she unconsciously assumed a boxing stance similar to Sanada-san, sending another series of blows across Amamiya’s body, before finally finishing it off with a right hook to the face. Her eyes narrowed, her expression deadly serious. “Kujikawa-san. Status.” 

_”Aigis! Did you hear what I was saying?! Watch out!”_

Her expression softened slightly, her brows rising in slight confusion. “...I did not. What is the issue?” She suddenly heard a creaking noise come from above her, as a large slash was cleaved into the top section of one of the buildings, and it slowly began crashing towards her. She made a move to dodge, before suddenly her body felt sluggish. Her eyes whipped towards Joker, who grinned at her before saying one single word. 

“Sukunda.” 

The massive set of debris crashed on top of her. A human would have been killed instantly. However, she was not human, and this fight had only begun. She sat in the dark for a few moments, trying to determine a battle plan. Understandably, it seemed as if all she had access to was Orpheus and Palladion. She attempted to stand up, only being met with resistance. Of course. She was under part of a building. The longer Amamiya Ren stayed standing, the higher her chances of failure, and most likely death, were. So perhaps her solution wasn’t set with a Persona at all. “Commencing Orgia Mode.” 

She felt her body heating up, before the strength finally returned to her body. A blue light filled the dark area she was trapped under, before she slowly began to rise to her feet, the massive weight becoming less and less of a hindrance. Her goal was set. Amamiya Ren. She burst from the rubble, smoke pouring from her body. She could see Amamiya’s eyes widen slightly, his breathing increasing, sweat starting to form on his brow. There was tension. No fear. This version of Amamiya Ren didn’t seem to fear anything, but that was going to change. She landed in front of him. Only a second passed, but to her it seemed like hours. She could see the calm parting of his lips as he attempted to summon his Persona. So she responded accordingly by punching him in the face. He went flying- she assumed at an incredibly fast speed- her sense of time seemed to be dulled slightly in order for her reactions to be faster. 

She held her hands out towards him, as a rain of bullets began shooting towards him, tearing his jacket to shreds. She dashed forwards, catching up with his body as it flew through the air and aiming a kick towards his spine. His cry was long and drawn out, as he was sent hurtling into the air. Her head snapped upwards, tracking his movement with ease, before she fired another violent round of bullets, watching as they continued to pierce and tear through his body. 

_”Aigis-”_

Rise’s voice was nothing more than background noise. She shot into the air, Palladion’s form shimmering before her, spear at the ready. Justice had to be served. “Kill Rush.” She commanded simply, as the Persona went on ahead of her, before delivering a myriad of slashes towards Amamiya’s back. His screams grew louder, before Aigis prepared the finishing blow. The heat in her body was becoming unbearable, the thrusters keeping her aloft starting to sputter. She grit her teeth, before Palladion slammed into Amamiya, using its spear like a bat, smacking Amamiya to the ground. She and Palladion began to plummet, Palladion overtaking her and crashing into the ground and sending a wave of energy out in every direction, causing the ground to shudder violently. Aigis felt her limbs slowing down, collapsing to her knees as Orgia Mode came to an end. 

“Mission… complete…” She muttered, before the sudden voice of Kujikawa Rise rang through her ears, clearer than ever. 

_”Um, Aigis?! What’s the point of a Navigator if you’re just gonna ignore her the whole time? He’s resisting physical attacks! Actually, it’s starting to seem like he’s resisting all elements… it’s kind of crazy…”_

That didn’t make sense. Amamiya was taking the full brunt of her attacks. She saw the pain in his expression, the way that each blow left him more and more open, so that she could… continue… wasting her energy. He had played her. He wasn’t a fool- he understood the mechanics of Persona- did he correctly guess that her Orgia Mode was only a short-lived boost? Or perhaps he understood how forcing one’s Persona to perform physical acts drained one's vitality, and assumed that she would overdo it and find herself in a bind, allowing him to quickly take the offensive? Her vision flickered, as she weakly raised her head, watching as Amamiya forced himself to his feet, before dusting himself off. He began approaching her, slowly, his darkened waistcoat gently rustling behind him. 

“You think you’re some sort of hero?” He growled. “These shadows… demons… whatever, they were alive! They were living their lives, and you waltz through and slaughter them all, and you’re treating me like some evil threat to put down?” His voice grew gradually louder, as Aigis slowly tried to force her legs to work. To stand. She could hear fans whirring, the most she was able to accomplish was the removal of her knee from the rubble. 

Her voice could still work. Perhaps that was all she needed for the time being. Stall him for long enough, and then reactivate her mobility capabilities. “...They were Shadows. Nothing more than fragments of the human unconscious. They did not ‘live’. They infested.” That was the truth. These Shadows took on different forms, acted on different impulses, but the difference between them and the beasts that were let loose decades ago were negligible. They were like Ryoji. Slithering beasts that simply took different forms based on their preference. The thing was, Ryoji had learned to be human. Based on the surroundings, these Shadows were only playing a demented game of pretend on the corpses of civilization. 

She could see Amamiya’s eyes narrow behind his mask. He chuckled, a low, dark ring that shook her to her core. She hadn’t known fear. Ryoji had not scared her. Nyx had not scared her. But… if she were to wager what this feeling was deep inside, that growing dread that began to ring within her skull, artificial instincts telling her to run despite her being unable to. 

“You honestly think you have the right to judge if something is alive?” He asked, his voice dropping from the intense anger she had felt before to a chilling calmness. “You’re a piece of metal. Something Futaba would probably have on a shelf. You honestly think you can decide who has the right- the privilege- to exist in this world?” Aigis scowled. She was more than that. She knew she was more than that. Her friends had worked so hard to make sure she was treated as a human, and she had worked so hard to find bridge that gap between humanity and herself. He had no right to- 

“You make me sick.” He snarled. 

He stepped closer, his dark mask beginning to burn away, the distorted flames forming into a Persona that loomed behind him like a puppeteer behind a curtain. Aigis’ arm twitched, her expression hardening. 

“Ever since we’ve met, you’ve hated me. At first, I chalked it up to being controlled by that fake Kirijo, but there’s more. You’re a disillusioned killing machine- a homicidal maniac robot- but this has to be more personal.” 

Aigis thought. She locked eyes with him, and quickly averted them. They were too similar to His. Cold, but welcoming if you dared to look long enough. But He was different. Amamiya was a criminal- the Phantom Thieves were criminals that manipulated powers out of human understanding in order to accomplish their own goals. They claimed to fight for humanity, but was that really true? The blood rains on Christmas, the murder of Okumura, the societal reprecussions of knowing that a group that powerful was out there… could someone such as Amamiya truly be seen as a hero? One who refused to work for society, but claimed to represent it. A true face of arrogance. 

But… He wouldn’t do that. He was kind, despite his aloofness. Sure, He didn’t have any lofty dreams of changing the world, but still took it upon himself to help others for nothing out of the goodness of his heart. He wasn’t an arrogant ‘paragon’ of justice. He wasn’t a disillusioned maniac who refused to trust others. He was... He… 

He was better than this. Her lip quivered. 

What would He do in this situation… 

Would He have put himself in this situation to begin with? She was given His power, and yet here she was… she had used it recklessly, and now found herself at the hands of death. Had she truly let her prejudice get the better of her? Her arrogance led her to prematurely use Orgia Mode. Her ignorance had willed her to fight in the first place. Her cheeks felt wet. She heard Amamiya scoff. 

“You’re really good at pretending, you know. But I’m going to end this. I have somewhere I need to be.” She looked up, his shadow obscuring her vision. His jaw tensed. 

“Persona.” He growled, raising his arm. His Persona did the same, a horrid blade forming in its clutches. 

Not here. Not like this. She was a fighter, and she wasn’t just going to lie down and take it. “Please… allow me your assistance once more…” She whispered, as his arm swung down at her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact, before realizing nothing was coming. There was a blunt ‘crack’ as she opened her eyes, watching as Orpheus interrupted the blade with it’s lyre. Its expression was different. The wailing was nothing more than a memory. It was determined. She felt it look at her. 

_I am thou. _

_ Thou art I. _

_ I’m counting on you._

Right. She had to see this through to the end. She forced herself up to her feet, as Orpheus banged its lyre against Arsene’s head as one of Arsene’s claws scraped across Orpheus’ face. The two Personas flickered out of existence, as Amamiya and Aigis yelled in unison-- 

**”Persona!”**

Another explosion of energy, similar to their first clash. The sky grew dark, as a massive Persona began to descend from the sky. It consumed the entire sky, gilded horns glistening, a sash of blood red across its chest. Three sets of wings beat calmly, but each flap seemed to cause a massive blast of wind to tear apart the air. A massive rifle one hand, blackened fingers rest calmly on the trigger. The sound of thunder seemed to boom, almost akin to a manic choir. Amamiya looked up in confusion, before that confusion turned into a form of morbid confidence. 

“I wasn’t expecting that… but I’ll take what I can get. Come, Satanael!” 

Aigis shut her eyes, growling in frustration. How was it possible? Her Persona had been weakened immensely, and yet he seemed to be growing stronger by the second. She looked upwards, before remembering that she had attempted to summon before as well. Where was her Persona… 

“What the hell?” She heard Amamiya grunt. A ghastly wail filled the air, before Aigis looked up, watching as a dark form plummeted towards Amamiya’s Persona, a burst of fire escaping from it. 

“...Thanatos.” Aigis said, firmly. If Orpheus was her belief in Him, then… 

Oh. 

Fine. 

The two Personas engaged in combat. Satanael was massive, and it’s wings alone seemed to be enough to throw the smaller Persona off course. Thanatos slashed at the large, leathery wings, leaving gash after gash, slowly wearing the Persona down. Of course… Aigis was quickly realizing the difference in power. 

The smaller Persona dipped and weaved throughout the air, attempting to use it’s blades as much as possible, and let out a few bursts of almighty energy to no avail. Aigis was feeling weaker by the second, and she was feeling much less grateful towards Ryoji than before. Still, that didn’t stop her from commanding spell after spell, her energy slowly depleting each second. She had found herself kneeling, the residual cooldown from Orgia Mode still active. She had ignored it for the time being, but now… it was practically impossible to do so. 

“Black Viper!” Amamiya yelled, before the ground seemed to turn a sickening black, as if covered in tar. The massive illusion of a snake shot upwards, before grasping Thanatos in its jaws, dragging it downwards. 

“Door to Hades!” Aigis screamed in desperation, as the ground rumbled again, and a massive barrage of dark hands gripped Satanael, dragging it downwards as well. The two Personas vanished, as Amamiya chuckled, clearly enjoying this more than she was. 

“You must be tired.” He said, coyly. She was. Her power had practically been exhausted up to this point. She took a breath. 

“Cadenza.” She felt the temporary breath of life fill her, before shooting towards Amamiya. 

“Sukunda!” He yelled, the heaviness returning to her body as quickly as it left as he stepped to the side, twirling his knife within his grasp and stabbing her firmly in the back. She glared towards him. 

“Commencing Orgia-” She was cut short as his blade carved through her chest, clipping at the core that powered her. She felt herself growing weaker by the second, practically leaking energy. She dropped to her knees, as she felt Amamiya’s hands grasp at the parting between the flesh-toned segment of her face, and her necklace. His nails dug in, before she could feel him pulling. 

“We’re not doing that again. Now, it’s time for you to show me your true face!” His foot pressed into her back, shoving her to the ground, before she felt her face begin to detach. She gasped, struggling more. “Dream Needle.” He hissed, before her back was punctured, and the feeling in her limbs became slack. This wasn’t right. She refused to lose like this. There was a crack as her chin disconnected from her neck, the warm air making its way into the mechanics that made up her face. 

_”Aigis! Hold tight! I can see if Himiko can get rid of that effect!”_ Rise’s voice crackled. Rattling like rocks in Aigis’ head. 

Another crack. It hurt. It wasn’t a deafening pain. There was a clear disconnect between the two pieces, but this wasn’t how it should be removed. There was a sudden pop, before her facial mechanics shut off in shock. Her vision went totally black, mechanical lips twitching. The obvious fact settled in. 

He had removed her face. 

She… she hadn’t thought much of it before. Junpei-san said it was cute. Yukari-san had mentioned she was jealous at times under her breath. Sanada-san didn’t have much to say. But… Mitsuru-san said it was unassuming. It was good for missions that required tact. The guise of a high-school aged teenager concealing a powerful weapon. This… that face… was the only thing that let anyone else even consider her as a human- even consider her as someone worthy of living in this world. It was her mask. A mask that let her pretend that she was anywhere near as complex and warm as her companions. And now it was gone, in an uneventful show of glory. 

She wanted to cry. 

_”Aigis? Aigis, please respond! Aigis!”_

She couldn’t. She felt a blade slice at the joints of her legs and arms, before a disappointed sigh. 

“Alright.” 

That was all he said. All he was willing to give her. She could only lay in defeat as he walked away, the sound of his footsteps growing fainter. 

* * *

That was incredibly unsatisfying. He had won- gotten the killer robot out of the way- but he didn’t exactly feel great about it. That robot girl… there was something about her. Something that felt new, but incredibly familiar. His hands slid into his pockets, before he turned as another set of footsteps caught up to him. Akechi smiled, waving at him calmly. 

“Good show out there.” The detective chirped. 

“Where were you?” Ren growled. 

“Come on, come on. Don’t get so huffy. I didn’t want to interrupt your little skirmish.” He smiled, wrapping his arm around Ren’s shoulders. “Besides, we’re close.” 

He pointed ahead, the massive glistening tower growing closer as they walked. The symbol of his escape. After this… he could go home. This nightmare would be over. He heard Akechi chuckle behind him, before pushing him forwards slightly. 

“Onwards and upwards, Trickster. You’re about to infiltrate one last time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating Dark Sun as I'm working on Redux feels... weird. Like- I have to keep in mind whatever I have planned for Redux- but some things I don't have planned so I have to be really careful about the bullshit continuity I slapped together. But this is literally all an action scene, so I think it's fine.
> 
> On a slightly lighter note- I was internally kicking myself for not calling THIS chapter Wild Style. I mean. C'mon.


	14. Full Speed Ahead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sae, Ryuji, and Tatsuya make their way towards their target. Tatsuya talks about the Other Side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After Redux it's so weird to write a story that focuses on one group of characters instead of changing perspectives every couple of paragraphs.
> 
> But this is also, like, a million times cleaner so I like it.
> 
> More importantly though- we're back! Ground Zero: Redux was completed yesterday, so now I can officially focus on Dark Sun (and maybe my other fics but... well, we will see. Because of the quarantine, I've had a plethora of time, so... maaaybe). 
> 
> The 'canon' of this fic will change to fit Redux. What does that change so far, you ask? Well, nothing (I'm good at planning ahead sometimes). But there are a couple characters that purely made an appearance in Redux and not in the original, so, y'know- keep that in mind. 
> 
> I can't tell you my upload schedule as of now, because this is MUCH different than Redux which was essentially me taking things I've written, and adding more. This is me writing, editing, and proofing from scratch- so chapters may take a bit longer. I want to say weekly, but don't like- count on it.
> 
> Nonetheless, we're back, and enjoy!
> 
> \- WiggityFresh

Sae had most of their ride to consider the logistics of ‘Persona’, and the more she thought about it, the less sense it made. That voice that had called out to her was unmistakably hers, and yet while she had recovered from the initial shock of awakening to an ethereal being that followed her every command, and the fact that her clothes had changed for some reason, she didn’t exactly understand why. 

“Oi, Niijima-san. You seem a bit bothered by somethin’.” Ryuji said, bouncing along the back of Inanna. Her Persona was large enough to fit several people, but that didn’t mean that most people could fit comfortably. Tatsuya-san was fairly close behind her, one arm wrapped around her waist for support, while Ryuji was stuck on the back. Sae glanced backward, before sighing, shaking her head. 

“It’s just confusing. One moment I was in my office, and the next I’m fighting demons? Summoning monsters?” Her brows furrowed together. “You all are reacting to this so naturally, this whole new world that I’m only just scratching the surface of. I never realized my own worldview was this limited.”

“You’re overthinking it,” Tatsuya said, his voice gruff. “First things first, just accept this as the new normal.”

Sae shot him a look. “That seems a lot easier said than done, Tatsuya-san. My life in the law field has centered around logic and facts- it was hard enough to believe Amamiya-kun’s whole ‘metaverse’ story.”

“Who’s Amamiya?” Tatsuya asked, Ryuji grunting as Inanna hit a rough patch in the road, gripping tightly onto the sleeve of Tatsuya’s motorcycle suit for support. 

“He’s our leader,” Ryuji began. “Total badass. He can use multiple Personas.”

“You can’t use multiple Personas?” Tatsuya asked, dryly.

“No, I--” Ryuji paused. “S-should I be able to? Is that weird?”

“Kinda. Everyone has a ‘main Persona’, sure, but everyone also has different faces and identities within themselves. Using a different Persona is like being able to come to terms and weaponize a different aspect of yourself. So, yeah. It kind of seems like you’re just weird, and your leader is up to par.” The older man explained, bluntly. Before Ryuji could even retort, Tatsuya looked upwards. “...A gang of Lilim overhead. Keep your eyes low. Niijima-san, keep your focus on the road.” He commanded.

Sae’s eyes flitted upwards for a moment, as she caught a brief glimpse of what Tatsuya was talking about. Multiple, thin, winged female forms littered the sky, bat-like wings flapping about calmly as they glided and leaped off buildings with grace. Sae’s brief glance grew into a prolonged stare as she found herself entranced, her eyes unable to break from the beautiful demons before her thoughts began to cloud. Her Persona faded as the three crashed into the ground, Sae’s thoughts suddenly returning to her as she bounced across the ground with a grunt. 

“What did I just say?” Tatsuya snarled, before glancing behind him. “Shit. Follow me.” He darted into an alley, Sae wobbling to her feet and following behind, as Ryuji jogged after them. The three of them grouped up, hiding as a few of the demonesses landed on the ground where they had crashed, eyes darting around. 

Tatsuya held a finger to his lips, gesturing for them to remain silent as the demons grew bored, suddenly lifting off into the air. He glared at Sae.

“These are demons.” He whispered eyes narrowed. “When I tell you to do something, I want you to do it. Understood, Niijima-san?” 

Sae nodded. “I… apologize. I suppose I was just curious and…”

“You got charmed. The only thing that kept you from falling totally under their spell is the fact that you crashed us.” Tatsuya replied, walking a bit deeper into the alleyway before sitting down. “Which means that it isn’t just Lilim in that gang. There are Succubi as well.”

Ryuji’s eyes widened. “Woah, how d’you know?” He wandered over, sitting next to Tatsuya. “I mean, have you been fightin’ Shadows for a while?”

“They’re not ‘Shadows’, they’re-” Tatsuya shook his head. “Whatever. And yes, I’ve been fighting them all my life.” His eyes focused on the ground, his brow knitting. “I came from the same place those demons came from.” He waited for some kind of shocked response. Ryuji delivered.

“...So, are you a ‘demon’ as well?” Sae asked. Tatsuya chuckled.

“I wouldn’t say so. I’m human. Although I’ve been so far away from other humans for so long, I had to do so many inhumane things, I… well, I’d be the first to put that into question.” 

“How’d you get stuck down there?” Ryuji asked, scratching his head. “The blast-thingy that opened up the Edge seemed pretty powerful.” 

“Nyarlathotep,” Tatsuya said, ominously.

“Gesundheit.” Ryuji replied, obliviously. 

Sae smiled slightly. Tatsuya’s brow furrowed.

“I’m talking about a being. Nyarlathotep. The Crawling Chaos. Master of Shadows. Where I’m from is a result of him succeeding… well, I’m not sure how many years ago. What year is it, Niijima-san?”

“2017.”

“Eighteen years ago.”

It was Sae’s turn to be shocked. “So… you lived in a demon-infested hellhole for eighteen years? That’s certainly a long time, Tatsuya-san.”

He shrugged. “Seems like. The years kind of… blended together. And I found out how to survive.” He looked at his hands. “...Got stronger. Killing demons is different when you’re the one invading their turf. They had lives. Clans. Instead of being inhuman parasites slaughtering humans, I was the parasite, crawling my way up the food chain until I forced them to respect me with my strength. And to do so, I had to give up my humanity…” He sighed, closing his eyes.

“I dunno,” Ryuji said, flippantly.

Tatsuya gave him an incredulous look.

“I mean, I know you were doin’ your whole ‘rah, rah internal darkness’ monologue, but you’re still human. I mean- you didn’t skip a beat when it came to helpin’ us, despite not even knowin’ us.” The teenager explained, grinning. “Besides, you’re wearin’ a Featherman costume, not ever ‘inhuman’ to me.”

Tatsuya blinked, before starting to chuckle, shaking his head with a slight smile. “...You’re just like Eikichi.”

Sae nodded. “I agree with Sakamoto-kun. No matter what you think about yourself, your actions will always define you better than your thoughts. We’re virtually strangers to you, and you’re assisting us in finding more people you don’t know.” She folded her arms. “You may have your regrets and pain, Tatsuya, but I can tell you’re a good man.” She smiled. “I used to be a prosecutor. I know the eyes of a villain compared to the eyes of an honest man.” 

Tatsuya sat in silence for a moment, before quickly standing up. “What are we waiting for then? Niijima-san, you’ve been driving us, but I meant to ask if you had any idea where the two people we’re looking for are?”

Sae frowned slightly. “I’m not… entirely sure. I just have a feeling, I guess. 

“Oh! Maybe you’ve got a special Persona!” Ryuji blurted out. The two adults turned back to look at him. “Well, everyone’s Persona is a little bit different- like Futaba’s can’t fight but is pretty badass when it comes to buffs and navigatin’, or Mona is good at healing, and can kind of suss out where important stuff is because he was supposed to be guidin’ us or whatever.” He chuckled. “Hell, even Makoto was pretty effin’ good at pickin’ out enemy weaknesses and figuring out the best technical moves.”

Sae rubbed her chin. “So you’re assuming that outside of combat, my Persona has some kind of… extra ability?”

“Interesting.” Tatsuya said, “I’ve never really heard of something like that. But I suppose that could make sense. It is a reflection of your inner self.”

Ryuji nodded. “Yeah, and your Shadow was pretty freakin’ goal-driven, maybe you’ve got some sorta passive ‘sixth sense’ that’s leadin’ us to the people we’re lookin’ for.”

Sae nodded, before raising her eyebrow at Ryuji. “Speaking of, none of you told me what my ‘Shadow’ was like. Makoto seemed to avoid the subject every time I attempted to ask about it. So, perhaps you know? I’d greatly appreciate some insight.”

Ryuji’s expression grew… complicated. He suddenly found a very interesting part of the brick wall in the alleyway, squatting down to look at it instead of Sae.

“Sakamoto-kun.”

“Hey-hey-heeeey, shouldn’t we get going? Let’s get moving! Are the demons gone, Tatsuya-san?”

Tatsuya rolled his eyes before glancing outside again. “We should be fine for now, but they seemed to be moving in an organized group.” He turned to Sae. “We were heading east before. Is that still the case?”

Sae nodded. Tatsuya sighed. 

“What’s the matter?” Ryuji asked.

“Based on the movement of those demons, they’d only be acting like that if they were headed towards a Domain.”

“A… Domain?” Sae asked.

“A Demonic Domain. It’s essentially the ‘territory’ of a particularly strong demon. Although, they haven’t been active on This Side for very long, so it may still be in the building phases. Once it sets in and that demon’s power is active, it essentially becomes the supreme ruler of that area, and controls every aspect of it as it spreads outward like a virus.” 

“So… like a Palace?” Ryuji asked. “Outside of the whole ‘spreading’ stuff, but the concept is the same. Take out the main source of power in this Domain, and it’ll go away, right?”

Tatsuya nodded. “I’m not entirely sure what a ‘Palace’ is, but you’ve got the right idea, Sakamoto. We’ll need to kill the Ruler. And… based on the demons we’ve seen so far, I have a pretty good idea which demon has decided to make its home here…” He grimaced, shuddering.

Sae gave him a worried look. “Um, Tatsuya-san?”

“Lilith.” He finally spat out. 

“Oh, Ren’s summoned that one before. That’s the pale lady with the snake, right? Kinda hot?”

Sae raised an eyebrow. “...’Kinda hot’?” 

Tatsuya nodded slowly. “That’d be a… somewhat accurate description. Looks aside, Lilith is a ruthless she-devil that tramples over everyone who falls victim to her charm spells.” He gasped. “Damn, there are still plenty of humans on This Side!”

Sae’s eyes narrowed. “Is she going to kill them?”

“If they’re lucky. Knowing Lilith, she’ll probably hold them like slaves and slowly drain them of their energy.” He looked towards Sae. “If we want to save the most lives possible, we’ll need to go now. If any demons start setting up Domains, the number of deaths in Japan will skyrocket.”

Sae closed her eyes, focusing as Inanna burst to life, collapsing into its vehicle form as Sae hopped on. That was certainly bad, to put it lightly. She revved the engine on her Persona, a plume of nuclear fire spewing out the exhaust. She gestured for them to get on, Tatsuya immediately hopping on after her. She suddenly zipped forward, going in the same directions that the demons had been flying. 

“Remember what I said. If you can help it, try to avoid any sort of prolonged eye contact with the Lilim, and if you see a succubus, just… don’t look at it in general.” He instructed, “The reason you got distracted is that you probably had a glimpse at a succubus. They basically ooze charm…”

“Gross,” Ryuji muttered.

“...Incubi too. Just- keep your eyes from any bat-winged figures. If we have to interact with any, keep your eyes to the ground, no matter what they say. If they take offense- which they will- so be it.”

Sae nodded, slowly. “Understood, Tatsuya-san.” They continued driving for a while before Ryuji spoke up again. 

“...Um, Tatsuya-san?”

“Yeah?”

“You seemed awfully familiar with Lilith. And I mean, if she’s this seductress or whatever, did you two… y’know. Do it?”

Sae almost slammed on the brakes but managed to refrain. Tatsuya groaned.

“No, Sakamoto. She’s a demon.” He replied, tone venomous. 

“I mean, you’ve been alone with nothin’ but demons for almost two decades, right? I wouldn’t judge ya’...” 

“That’s enough, Ryuji,” Sae spoke up. Ryuji sighed.

“Sorry, Niijima-san. But then, why does this seem so, like, personal? I'm gettin' the feeling I'm missin' somethin'."

He was quiet for a moment. “...I wasn’t the only human that survived the Grand Cross and lived with demons on the Other Side. While Japan- and the world- was obliterated, Sumaru City was the only thing that remained. There were normal humans, of course, but there were also a few people with special abilities. Either able to summon Personas, or skilled enough to control demons on their own. They had formed a resistance- spent time fighting demons and protecting the remaining humans with the empty dream of trying to restore humanity…”

Sae had a feeling she knew how this story ended. “...Tatsuya-san…”

“...Our numbers slowly dwindled. The number of us that could fight back went from already laughable to absolutely pathetic. So, humanity decided to lock itself away and wait. Some people were waiting for the demons to kill each other. Others were waiting for some messianic child to be born with enough power to single-handedly wipe out the demonic threat.”

Ryuji scoffed. “The hell? You can’t get anything done if you just sit around and wait. Didn’t that just mean everyone gave up?”

Tatsuya nodded, solemnly. “Everyone who couldn’t fight back gave up.” He paused. “...Does the name ‘Yoshizaka Anna’ mean anything to you both?” 

“I can’t say so,” Sae replied, eyes forward. “Sakamoto-kun?”

“Me neither. Is she important to you?”

“...She was tired of waiting. Tired of sitting around, so she asked me for help taking down a Domain. We had both gotten stronger over the years, and if we could at least take down one Domain we could either turn the tides in our favor or just cause a big enough power vacuum that we could clear out a decent amount of demons as they fought over the land.”

“...So you went after Lilith’s Domain.” Sae deduced.

Ryuji blinked. “Oh… shiiit.”

“We thought we were strong enough. My Persona gave me the fortitude to withstand her charm, but…” He went quiet, before suddenly grabbing Sae’s shoulder. “Niijima-san, stop here.” 

Sae slowed her ‘bike’ down, before recalling her Persona, the three of them calmly dropping to the ground.

“We sneak on foot from here,” Tatsuya said, calmly. He pointed in the distance towards a now desecrated building. Lights seemed to shine from the inside, as demons seemed to wander in and out. He pulled them both towards another alley, before the three of them peeked from around the corner, surveying their surroundings. 

Sae pointed towards a destroyed ambulance that was carefully being looted by a few Incubi. “That’s the vehicle we saw Shirogane-sama in that butterfly’s vision. I’m sure of it.”

“Which means Kirijo-san is in there too,” Ryuji whispered before his eyes suddenly widened. “Oh, shit! Look!” He pointed forwards as the demons dragged out two bodies. One of which was a short woman with blue hair that seemed to be resisting, albeit weakly, and a red-haired woman that seemed too weak to even attempt to resist. “That’s Shirogane-san and Kirijo-san, right?”

“Seems like,” Tatsuya mumbled. “Which means we’re too late- at least as far as getting them without any sort of confrontation- and they’ll probably be taking them straight to Lilith.” 

“How are you so sure?” Sae asked. 

“She picks and chooses which ones get drained and farmed like cattle, and which ones end up being laborious slaves,” Tatsuya replied, brow knitting. “So, we need to get to Lilith before she can do anything with them.”

Ryuji smirked. “Cool! I’ve been meaning to bust some Shadows up!”

Sae shook her head. “That seems like a bad idea. We’d get outnumbered quickly.”

“Exactly,” Tatsuya said with a nod. “I appreciate the enthusiasm, but the best case is to make it up to Lilith without confrontation, and then kill her before she can call for reinforcements.”

“Sneaking! Sounds good, I’m a Phantom Thief, I can totally sneak in!” Ryuji said, still confident.

Tatsuya nodded. “Good. You can sneak your way up to Lilith, while Sae and I find another way through.”

“Excuse me, Tatsuya-san.” Sae began. “But how are we going to get in? I don’t think we’re as adept at sneaking as Sakamoto-kun.”

“We’re not.” He replied. “But I have a better plan.”

“And what’s that?”

“We walk in.”

Sae stared at him for a moment. He couldn’t be serious. Didn’t walking in mean just… giving themselves up to the demons? Or… Shadows… or whatever the term was for them. She was going to stick with demons. She opened her mouth to state her opinions on the plan- he shook his head.

“Trust me, there’s more to it. Demons don’t exactly understand the concept of ‘Persona’. Most of the time, they’d acknowledge us and our Personas as two different beings. A powerful demon, and a human that’s essentially ‘escorting’ it around.” He began. “There’s a way to mess with that worldview though. For years, demons have been calling me ‘The Sun’, because they assume that my real self is just an avatar for my Persona, Apollo and that I’m actually the Sun God taken on a human form.” He nodded. “It keeps them in line. They won’t attack me out of either respect, fear, or both.”

“...So we need to convince them that we’re demons?” Sae asked. “Doesn’t that seem a bit… risky? If they find out I’m lying--”

“You’ll have me. They’ll only need to be convinced you’re a demon for as long as it takes to reach Lilith.” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “You need to be confident. Still, if this plan fails, then we’ll need to fight. Luckily, you have a fairly powerful Persona.”

“I’ll take your word for it, but I don’t know how to use it.” Sae retorted.

“There is no ‘how’. That Persona is you. You were naturally casting spells when you first summoned it, right? And there was that moment of confusion, that moment where you didn’t know what you were doing, but it felt right. Is that right?”

He… had a point. She had conjured that barrier without thinking earlier. “So… I just need to accept it as an extension of myself?”

“Basically.” Tatsuya took his hand off her shoulder. “Tell me, Sakamoto, what was it like when you summoned and fought for the first time?”

Ryuji blinked. “Uh, well- I was really freakin’ angry, but after I summoned Captain Kidd for the first time, it was like I knew him for all my life. And I mean, he was just me, so it made sense. Firin’ lightning bolts was as easy as runnin’. Although, there was the fatigue…”

“Fatigue?” Sae asked. She had felt fine this entire time. There were spots where she would get a bit exhausted, but outside of that.

“Well, yeah. Isn’t your first time supposed to be super stressful? Even Makoto got all woozy after the adrenaline wore off.” 

Tatsuya calmly raised his hand. “Guilty as charged. I’ve been slowly healing her over the course of this mission. Still, once this is over and I need to rest, the fatigue will probably totally set in. That’s part of why I want to avoid fighting until the last minute. Once my focus is off her, she’ll only be able to hold herself up for a short while before having to crash for a couple of hours.”

“Seems like we’ll need to get this done quickly, then,” Sae said with a curt nod. She turned to face the developing Domain, folding her arms. She glanced back towards the two men, giving them a slight smile, one hand moving to rest on the revolver on her hip.

“Shall we go kill some demons?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryuji, Sae, and Tatsuya being a group was entirely done by just... the chance and whims of writing- and you know what? Thanks 'past me' who absolutely didn't have a plan for this fic and was totally winging it. 
> 
> I really like writing this team.


	15. The Remains of Humanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maya, Ann, and the others discover what's left.

Wandering about without Gabriel was… stressful. The Phantom Thieves were good at sneaking around, finding suitable hiding spots for the small team as they slowly made their way towards the main city. Gabriel had mentioned getting to the ‘Temple of Shijima’, which Maya only guessed held more angels. She patted the lily within her jacket pocket. Gabriel was merciful, but all of them knew how powerful Archangels were when summoned- she didn’t want to take her chances in the case any of Gabriel’s ‘kin’ were a lot less tolerant of humans blindly wandering around. 

Ann whistled to the group, pointing towards a dilapidated truck resting on its side. The group wandered towards it, sitting down and taking a breath. While they were still trying to stay on the move, resting helped them get their already pathetic pool of energy back up. Still, this was the most direct ‘hiding spot’ they had found so far. Maya shrugged as she sat down next to Haru, who was nervously picking… something from her hair.

Sand or bits of rust, most likely. The only thing Maya could tell was that it was granular. 

Seeing her hometown like this was ‘stress-inducing’ to say the least. The ground seemed to be stained a constant red, bits and pieces of destroyed metal littering the ground. Luckily, they all had fairly solid footwear on, but she didn’t want to risk accidentally stepping on a massive chunk of metal. Sumaru City, while it was still a bit of a walk away, was fairly visible. Its buildings were destroyed, falling apart and filled with demons- their silhouettes visible against the harsh sun.

Kanji had even mentioned hearing the sound of violent gunfire a few moments ago. They had taken that as a cue to hide, as the sky seemed to darken and shift with the sounds of violent combat. Once it came to a close, they slowly began to continue their crusade forward. 

Speaking of. “So, let’s remind ourselves what the game plan is,” Maya said, clapping her hands together. “Step one, get to Sumaru City. Step two, find a way to climb the ‘Central Beacon’ that Gabby mentioned. Step three, mourn Gabby for a bit, and then make it up to her temple and see if the other angels can help us.”

“Mourn Gabriel?” Chie asked, frowning. “Are we sure that she’s dead?”

“...She’s fighting Ren.” Ann said, sitting down with her knees close to her. “There’s no way a Shadow is coming out of that fight in once piece.”

“...Ren…” Haru whispered. “Why was he so upset with us? We didn’t wrong him, did we?”

“Not that I can remember.” Ann pouted. “...Still, he didn’t seem like himself. Was he really about to hurt us?”

“I know it would be risky, but I would like to see him again.”

Kanji folded his arms. “Anyone else gettin’ the feeling we’re being watched?” He looked around. “...And this truck is like, really fuckin’ clean. I know it’s a weird thing to notice but like- outside of the dust and stuff on the ‘floor’ part, it’s almost like the walls have been kind of… cleaned?” He stood up, looking at one of the sides of the truck. “...Yo, these are handprints.”

Maya looked over at Kanji, raising an eyebrow. “Like, demon handprints?”

“I mean, they’re not pawprints, and they look more like my hands than the goofy hands those Jacks had. I mean, I know there are pro’lly humanoid demons, but like--”

The entrance to the truck suddenly slammed shut. The group was shrouded in total darkness before the trunk suddenly started jolting forward. The group immediately began screaming, banging on various parts of the truck with varying intents. Maya ran towards the part of the truck that had been closed, slamming her shoulder against it. She turned to where she… thought Kanji was- it was stupidly dark- and yelled out.

“Come on! Let’s see if we can get this open! Please help me, Kanji-kun!”

“Yes, ma’am!” There was a crack of thunder as Kanji’s Persona roared forth, slamming its lightning-bolt shaped weapon against the back of the truck, heavily denting the door. Kanji prepared another attack before the truck went wholly vertical. The group piled on top of each other, coughing and grunting as the truck seemed to tumble around. 

“Is this- a- demon- trap?!” Chie asked amongst the screaming.

“I don’t knoOOW-” Ann tried to reply, before banging against one of the walls of the truck. 

The truck suddenly came to a crashing halt- landing horizontally- the group struggling to find some purchase before the back of the truck slowly opened up. A dim light slowly entered the darkened vehicle, before Maya slowly heard the sound of voices talking.

“...Think they’re demons?” One of the voices asked.

“Screamed a lot for normal demons. Whatever. Hopefully, we can skin ‘em anyways.” Another replied.

Maya tensed up, slowly preparing to summon her Persona. If things got too tricky, she could attempt a Hama spell on a few of their adversaries. She gestured for the others to stay quiet, as she listened to the sounds of footsteps approaching the truck. She looked towards the opening as a few silhouettes came into view, holding a variety of different firearms, pointing them at the group of trapped Persona-users.

More… people?

They were dressed in tattered clothes and makeshift armor, most of their faces covered with bandannas and bandages. In fact, outside of a small section around their eyes, hardly any skin was visible.

One of the humans slowly leaned in, squinting at the team as he lowered his weapon. “...The hell? It looks like we’ve got a mixed bag here. A couple of ‘em look like demons, but some of the others look like us…”

Another human, broader and more muscular shrugged. “Tell the boss to come then. She’s got an eye for this sorta shit.” 

The group of what Maya had to assume were humans slowly left them for the most part, one or two remained with guns still drawn. Maya raised her arms in surrender, smiling nervously. 

“What’s with the harsh treatment?” She asked, “I think we’re all on the same team.”

Neither of them responded. Maya frowned, folding her arms, before there was a sudden roar. A large, animalistic demon appeared near the entrance of the truck. It slowly padded inside, shaking its massive white mane as piercing yellow eyes stared down the group. It’s scaled tail whipped at the air as it approached Maya. It sniffed at her, before snarling, backing away with a huff through its nostrils.

_”YOU HUMAN. ME NOT ALLOWED TO EAT.”_ It growled, turning away as its tail smacked Maya in the face, trotting its way out of the cell. _”YOU LUCKY BOSS LADY FEED ME GOOD.”_ It added, before slowly fading away into a mass of light and code. The rest of the group stared confused as the demon seemed to just… apparate out of existence, before another voice broke their confused silence. A woman.

“Well, if Cerberus says so, I suppose you’re legitimate. Forgive the tension. We’ve had to deal with Foul Demons and Doppelgangers before.” She said in a polite tone, stepping into the group's view. The woman had brown hair that was short, messy, and uneven. Her eyes were a dull grey, the luster seemingly sapped from them. The remnants of a few bruises and scars sparingly littered her face. She seemed to be wearing a worn, brown business suit, but it was covered by battered and damaged riot gear. She held a device in her hand, a gun-like object that connected to her arm. Lights on it flashed as she carefully holstered it, staring down at the group with a stern, but still somewhat warm look. Maya stared at the woman for a moment, locking eyes with her. Something was… extremely familiar about her, but she was having some trouble finding out what, until it finally hit.

“...Tammy?” Maya asked, eyes widening.

One of the armed humans pointed her gun at Maya, eyes narrowing. “That’s Captain Uchida Tamaki to you!” She barked, as Tamaki slowly entered the dilapidated truck, folding her arms. 

“...Maya?” The devil summoner asked. Her eyes widened, before she quickly un-holstered her Gun-like object, pointing at her. “No, that’s impossible. You’re supposed to be dead. How’d you do it, how’d you manage to trick Cerberus?”

Maya chuckled, shaking her head. “I’m not tricking anybody. I’m 100% me. Still… what happened to you? Or, well… I guess one look outside can explain that.” She took a step towards Tamaki, holding out her hand. “Check if you want, but I’m not a demon- or a ghost.”

There was a brief moment before the other woman carefully brushed her fingers across Maya’s open palm. Tamaki’s eyes narrowed, before sighing. “...I’m not taking any chances. Believe me, demons wearing human skin hasn’t exactly been a rarity.” Maya shuddered at the thought. Tamaki turned around, nodding at the two guards. “Put the others into custody. Don’t let them out of your sight. ‘Maya’ comes with me.”

Maya gave a worried look back towards the others, as Chie gave her a reassuring- yet nervous- smile.

“Don’t worry, Amano-san! I’ll make sure nothing goes wrong.” The martial artist said with a thumbs up. “And by that, I mean cooperate so none of us get shot!”

Maya chuckled anxiously. “...Thank you, Chie-san.” She turned to Tamaki, who was impatiently waiting for her, as several of the masked humans surrounded the rest of the group and slowly forced them out of the truck in a line. Luckily for Maya, none of them audibly complained, although did gave Maya varying looks that… probably meant that she was going to be asked a lot of questions later. That was fair. Once the others were out and sent to ‘custody’, it was just Maya and Tamaki left. The brown-haired woman folded her arms, staring at Maya.

“You know what I want to see.” She stated, matter-of-factly. 

Maya summoned her Persona without question, the flickering- still somewhat weak form of Maia hovering behind her. “...I know it isn’t Artemis, but a lot has happened. Sorry.”

Tamaki’s expression- which while polite, had been filled with a sense of sternness and distrust, suddenly softened. Her eyes grew wide, staring at Maya’s pathetic Persona like it was the most beautiful thing she had seen in years. She dropped to her knees. 

“It… it is you…” She said, voice shaking.

“...Um, yes? Please stand up, Tammy.” Maya walked over, holding out her hand. She smiled. “I don’t think I’m that important.”

After a nervous moment, Tamaki allowed herself to be helped up by Maya. She wiped at one of her eyes, shaking her head. “...Sorry, I just… I didn’t think you’d come back. You’re supposed to be dead, and- I- well, here you are!” 

Maya thought. This had been the Sumaru City from the Other Tatsuya’s timeline, which meant that the Other Maya had been killed. Tamaki’s skepticism made a lot more sense- well, more sense than it already had. A dead woman just showed up- she would have believed it was a demon or some trick from Nyarlathotep too. Maya was just glad that she could clear the air before there were any more misunderstandings. “...I’m glad to see you’re okay, Tammy.” Maya finally said, after a moment. “But…”

“You want to know if anyone else is still alive.” Tamaki said quietly, “...Anyone like you, I should say. Am I right?”

Maya nodded, nervously. “...You’re not giving me very high hopes, Tammy.”

Tamaki started walking off. “...I want you to see something.” She said, her tone empty. Maya followed behind, finally leaving the truck and going down a darkened hallway. The hallway seemed to be constructed from a mix of stone and sheet metal- confirming that this place was somewhere underground. The tunnel led to a subway platform, littered with various masked humans as they wandered about. She noticed a room fairly off to the side guarded by two armed people, the door painted with a bright purple circular sigil. 

...She’d ask about that later.

She heard a few of the general crowd whispering as the two women continued forward.

“...What does the boss want with that one?”

“She’s gotta be important…”

“Maybe she’s…”

“She’s not dressed as strangely as the others…”

Tamaki headed up a flight of steps- or a broken escalator, which were essentially stairs- to another part of the subway station. It was hard to say it was ‘filled with people’- Maya counted around 20-ish in this area, but those people were certainly busy. They were darting between rooms, hardly making conversation with each other, some carrying the corpses of fallen demons and wounded humans. Maya caught a glimpse of Ann as she was ushered into a room off to the side- most likely with the others. Still, while it was good to know where they were, she was extremely curious about what Tamaki wanted to show her. Eventually, as the two women continued walking, Tamaki stopped in front of a rather inconspicuous door. The door had the image of a cross crudely painted onto it, as she slowly opened it, gesturing for Maya to walk inside.

“...I’m sorry.” Tamaki said, “I… I’ll give you a moment. I’ll come in when you want me to.” 

Maya gave Tamaki a worried look, before slowly stepping inside of the dark room. It had been artificially extended, the walls going from the tile of a subway station to the patchy steel-dirt-stone mixture that she had seen from the tunnel earlier. Still, that was far from the most important thing. 

Maya’s view was lined with tons of graves.

No bodies. But there were ‘headstones’- chunks of brick or metal with names carved into them. She turned back towards Tamaki. The other woman’s eyes were locked onto the ground, hands shaking slightly. Maya frowned, before slowly making her way deeper in. She kneeled in front of one of the first gravestones, fingers brushing against it. A crude image of a rabbit was etched into it.

“...Oh.”

**AMANO MAYA**

**1976-1999 - KILLED IN ATTEMPT TO STOP THE CALAMITY**

**POSITIVE THINKER - SISTER TO ALL - TREASURED FRIEND**

Starting with her own grave seemed… rough. But she had come to terms with her own death. She slowly stood up, nervously rubbing the dust from her fingers that she had unwittingly collected from just touching the headstone. Still… she could only go further in. She did have to appreciate that this place was organized enough to at least alphabetize everything.

...Even if it was gravestones.

it wasn't alphabetized perfectly- it seemed to follow more of the concept of ‘similar first letters had similar spots’ rather than strictly dealing with the format. 

Not like that was important. 

She continued, looking for the names of people she recognized. She saw a few. Some rumormongers- some people that she used to work with- her breath hitched after she had been wandering the dark, death-ridden room.

**MAYUZUMI YUKINO**

**1979-1999 - KILLED IN A SKIRMISH WITH THE LAST BATTALION**

Maya stared at the headstone for a moment, before her eyes drifted to the shattered remnants of a camera on top of it. “Yukki…” Maya whispered. The ‘Last Battalion’ was a name that seemed to sour in Maya’s mind, despite never hearing it before. Faint feelings of pain and disdain tugged at her, especially after associating them with the death of her partner. If they ever got out of this place, she needed to call Yukino. Check up and see how she was doing.

Another few steps and she was faced with another gravestone.

**MISHINA EIKICHI**

**1982-1999 - KILLED IN ATTEMPT TO STOP THE CALAMITY**

A metal bar rested on top of his headstone. Maya paused for a moment, picking it up. “...The Sumaru Prison…” She whispered, before slowly putting it down. Eikichi-kun had been so young. Too young to have to deal with world-ending threats. It didn’t take long to find the next name- at this point, she was expecting to see all of the members of the original ‘Masked Circle’.

**SILVERMAN, LISA**

**1982-1999 - KILLED IN ATTEMPT TO STOP THE CALAMITY**

Maya smiled slightly at the carelessly etched in comma- probably as an attempt to rectify the fact that Lisa wrote her name in a western-style rather than an Japanese one. A pair of hand-wrappings covered the stone. Maya shook her head. If there were true gods out there watching everything- they were far too harsh.

Of course, after a moment of thought, Maya folded her arms in slight- worried- realization.

Where was Jun’s gravestone?

Jun-kun was just as much of a part of the ‘Masked Circle’ as the others. He had died in the same way as the others. If this place was alphabetized, then she should have encountered his headstone a while ago. “...Maybe I’ll find it if I keep looking…” She mumbled, before looking at the next headstone over. 

Her hands clasped her mouth as she gasped softly. “Oh, no.” She stared down at a headstone, a bundled-up green dress laying next to it.

**SERIZAWA ULALA**

**1974-2011 - DIED DEFENDING HUMANITY FROM THE FOG DEMONS**

So… Ulala was dead. That was fine.

Actually, it wasn’t. She had been trying hard to just accept everything… she knew the ‘Masked Circle’ had died beforehand, and Yukki’s death had already hit her hard. Her legs shook, as she felt herself losing balance for a moment. She tried to compose herself, wiping her cheek as tears began to trickle down. She heard the sound of faint footsteps behind her, as Tamaki approached her, gently resting a hand on her shoulder.

“...Serizawa-san was a good woman. The incident in 2011 was sudden. Most of us made it out okay- they only seemed to be coming from televisions and a great deal of them had been destroyed, but Serizawa…” Tamaki bit her lip. “She made a choice. She gave herself up to give us a fighting chance.” Her hand dropped, fingers gently running over the gun-like device on her hip. “...She said you’d do the same.”

Maya’s brow furrowed. “...Just because I would do it doesn’t mean I’d want anyone else to.” She rubbed her eyes, taking a shaky breath. “...Can you at least cover her birth year? I think she’d hate having everyone know how old she is…”

Tamaki stood silently for a moment, before carefully picking up the bundled dress and resting it on top of the stone. “...We can go if you want. I shouldn’t have…”

“It’s fine. I’m looking for someone.” Maya said, hands trembling. “...I can’t change what’s happened. I just need to think positive. Ulala would make fun of me for crying like this.” She steeled her resolve, before continuing forward. She wandered around gravestones- catching a glimpse of another name that pulled her back. A chill ran down her body, trembling hands clenching into shaking fists.

**SUOU KATSUYA**

**1973-2006 - KILLED IN AMBUSH ON A SCOUTING MISSION**

“...Suou-san was--” Tamaki began, Maya held up a hand. The last thing she wanted to hear was her husband being lauded about in the past tense.

“...Let’s keep going. I… I don’t want to be here for much longer.”

“...If you want, I can explain things later.” The devil summoner sighed, turning to leave. “I’ll go now, if you want to find me just-”

“Where is Jun?” Maya asked, suddenly. 

Tamaki turned around, locking eyes with Maya.

“Where is Jun?” She asked again, sternly. Tamaki faltered for a moment, before leading Maya towards a somewhat secluded opening on the far end of the area. It led to a separate set of stones, adorned with flowers.

“Kurosu Jun and Yoshizaka Anna. There was some discourse when it came to figuring out where to honor them. Because they fought for Nyarlathotep for so long… some people didn’t think they deserved to be with the others- or even respected at all.”

“That wasn’t Jun-kun’s fault. Anna’s either. They were young- manipulated- they didn’t know any better. Nyarlathotep wouldn’t allow them to know any better.” Maya replied, bitterly.

“I know. Tatsuya said the same thing in regard to Jun. We settled on this.”

Maya stared at the stones for a moment, before sighing. “...Speaking of Tatsuya--”

“He’s gone,” Tamaki replied, curtly. “...The last time I saw him in person was about five years ago. He was holding Yoshizaka’s body in his arms and handed her off to me. After that, he left. Refused to show his face around us since.” She scratched her arm. “...He still helps. Kills demons that wander too close if he thinks we can’t handle them with ease. Leaves food behind. Demons have a territory they defend, and I guess we’re under his.” She paused for a moment. “But… he does all of it without us seeing. Some people even question if he was real in the first place. Or at least human.”

“...Tacchan…” Maya whispered. She looked over at Tamaki. 

She seemed pained, before heading out. “...I have a request for you if you’d want to listen. You and your friends. Follow me.”

The two of them headed out of the grave room, Maya turning around and bowing slightly towards the deceased before heading out. Tamaki stared at Maya for a moment, before putting her hands on her hips. Her authoritative air returned once she was in sight of all of the other humans in the station. “How did you come back, though?” She asked- a reasonable question in Maya’s opinion. She had honestly expected it earlier.

“I’m… not the Maya from this time. I don’t know if Tatsuya mentioned…”

“Right.” Tamaki’s expression seemed to sadden slightly. “Something about alternate timelines. So, you and the others…?”

“All from that timeline.”

Tamaki raised an eyebrow. “Those teenagers… is that fashion normal? Or are they just dressing up as demons in order to move around with less trouble.” She tapped her chin. “...If it’s working, maybe we should employ something like that…”

Maya shook her head, chuckling softly. She had gotten so used to seeing the kids in their Phantom Thief garb that she had somewhat forgotten how weird it was to everyone else. And it was probably weirder in regards to this destroyed civilization. “No need. It’s a… long story- maybe when we have a few real moments to ourselves, I can explain the past 18 years of another timeline to you.”

“...I see.” Tamaki replied, carefully. “Well, either way- they’re fine. They’re in our medical ward- getting their wounds treated and going through some tests to see if they’re truly human or not. I was just asking since they’re dressed similarly to another one we found.”

Maya raised an eyebrow. “...How so?”

“A young man dressed as a kitsune. We found him a few hours ago- he’s been under a deep sleeping spell for the entire time.” She explained, “He was being transported by some Jacks- using a vehicle no less. One of our scouting teams spotted it and ambushed it- usually since vehicles are only used for extremely important cargo considering how rare fuel is.”

“...Kitagawa-kun…” Maya mumbled to herself. “Can I go--”

She was interrupted by the sound of yelling, and one of the masked humans ran up to Tamaki, frantically waving his arms. “Boss! The Kitsune has awakened and is currently fighting our doctors! What do we do?!”

Tamaki glanced over at Maya. “...Let’s go. If you know this boy, Maya-san, maybe you can talk some sense into him.”

Maya nodded. “I really wanna see this, so okay!”

The two of them jogged towards the room Maya had spotted earlier before the door flew open, a man flying backward out of it- his body covered with a light frost. There was a blur of movement, before a young man in a white and red kitsune mask slid out, gripping a model katana. Ann stumbled out behind him, flailing her arms. 

“Yusuke! Stop it! These guys aren’t--”

“Do not worry, Ann!” Yusuke said, looking around. “I was captured by demons as well. I will help us escape. Now- Goemon!” He unsheathed his katana, his Persona bursting forth with a flurry of cold air. Maya quickly stepped forward. 

“Kitagawa-kun! Everything is fine! Listen to Ann-chan!”

Yusuke’s eyes widened. “...Amano-sensei, you’re here as well?”

Tamaki frowned. “...’Sensei’?”

“These humans saved you from demons, Kitagawa-kun. Please put the Persona away. You’re scaring people.” 

Yusuke frowned, before putting his blade away. “...I see.” He turned around, before starting to walk back, brushing past Ann and into the room. “I’m going back to sleep then.”

There was a brief moment of silence before Maya heard stifled laughter from behind her. She turned as Tamaki chuckled, slowly heading toward the room Yusuke had just burst out of.

“...You really do have the strangest companions, Maya-san. But, this is good. They’re all awake, and apparently, some of them are Persona-users. I may as well go introduce myself.”

The two older women entered the room- a fairly small room with a few metal platforms for people to lie on, and some curtains separating them. The curtains were drawn back, as the rest of Maya’s group eyed the two women as they entered. Maya waved sheepishly, while Tamaki folded her arms behind her back.

“My name is Uchida Tamaki. I’ve been summoning and controlling demons since I was a teenager, and the only one left who is able to do so without the assistance of a Persona.” She patted the device on her hip. “This is a COMP. Or, a ‘Gun-COMP’. A GUMP. Nonetheless, it allows me to summon, recruit, and speak to demons via the Demon Summoning Program. Please refrain from asking too many questions about the Demon Summoning Program- I either do not know the answer, or I do not feel at liberty to share what I do know. Now, I have a simple request for all of you.” She looked at Maya for a moment, before facing her fully, bowing slightly.

“...I would like you to lead me and the others to freedom.”

There was a pause before Kanji raised his hand. “Uh… Uchida-san? How’re we s’posed to do that?”

“I’m not opposed to it,” Maya said, “But to follow up on what Kanji-kun said, do you have a plan?”

At the word ‘plan’, Tamaki’s eyes seemed to fill with a rare excitement. “Of course I do. Follow me. I’ve actually been wanting to show you this too.” She suddenly walked out the door, Maya gesturing for the others to follow behind- attempting to keep up with Tamaki’s restrained- but excited nonetheless- pace.

Eventually, they reached the strange door in the subway platform that Maya had noticed earlier, the guards stepping to the side as they saw Tamaki approach, but did give Maya and the others a few suspicious stares. The entrance opened as it led to a dark, winding staircase. She gestured for Maya and the others to follow- the staircase seemingly going further and further downwards, growing darker and darker before the artificial light from the subway was lost, and was replaced by an ominous flickering of candlelight- and the few odd sounds coming from below. 

Eventually, they reached an opening, leading to a wide room lit with a mixture of artificial lighting and candlelight. Cages adorned the sides of the room and ceilings, each one holding one or two different demons- all of them looking weakened and strained, tired cries and faint dark green liquid dripping from their bodies. In the center of the room were two large glass cylindrical containers- both containers had several tubes exiting from them and sprawling wildly across the floor, connecting to a variety of different points. Most of them seemed to converge in a central point between the two containers though, attaching to a circular platform that had a messy pentagram etched onto the center of it. The floor was littered with the same dark green liquid emitting from the demons, and splatters of what Maya assumed was blood. The group slowly converged, their expressions a mix of curiosity and horror, as Tamaki stepped in front of them- gesturing broadly, her eyes dark and a wide smile crossing her face.

“Welcome to our breeding ground for demons. The Cathedral of Shadows.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _*dramatic organ music*_


	16. Velvet Interlude II: Broken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth visits the Great Seal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't really count this and Interlude 1 as chapters. I mean- obviously they are- but they're more detached from the plot and I can usually write them as I'm focusing on other chapters for other things without too much worry. Like I worked on this and the next 'real' Dark Sun chapter while working on Redux. 
> 
> Especially since I was debating on whether to use this chapter or not considering the characters present and whether I wanted to introduce them to the story or not, so I usually keep it fairly detached in case I didn't want to use and and chose to scrap it instead.
> 
> Anyways, there's this and then I'll upload the next chapter once I'm done and satisfied with it on the weekend, most likely.

Humanity wears many faces.

For such beings, it is hard to be intentionally multi-faceted. It comes with learning and growing. Each new experience is a new mask, a new Persona to accept, a new Shadow to reject. Some higher beings would compare the efforts of humanity to a play. Each person an actor wandering on and off the stage of life with a new costume. The costume changes are messy, and occasionally only halfway completed by the time the spotlight focuses, but there’s a certain charm nonetheless. And each change, each costume a person stumbles into becomes a bit cleaner, and a bit more professional, until they’re wholly unrecognizable. 

All of this meant that the Sea of Souls- an expanse filled with the suppressed desires of humanity- was absolutely packed with the discarded ‘costumes’ left behind by the people of the world and hundreds of worlds alike. They took the forms of gods, monsters, demons- a Collective Unconsciousness filled with avatars ranging from the grimmest realities to their wildest dreams. 

It was absolutely beautiful to traverse. 

Elizabeth spiraled through the ever forming bodies of the creatures of the Collective Unconsciousness, their forms like fog, wafting apart as she made her way around. She had one destination in mind. One thing she needed to check. If the cards her master had laid out were actually true, then she needed to be quick. Simply wasting time and dawdling about wouldn’t do. She drew her grimoire from her hip, flipping through the pages with haste. Her fingers rested on the first page of the thirteenth chapter, her brow furrowing before...

“Elizabeth!”

The attendant looked behind her, as the flowing form of Margaret approached her. Her long hair drifted in every direction, not bound to any one rule of gravity. Her elder sister grew closer as Elizabeth closed her grimoire, shooting her a scathing look.

“Have you come to stop me, Margaret?”

Margaret folded her arms, scoffing slightly. “I’ve half a mind to do so. Carelessly diving into the Sea of Souls with some vague resolution. You of all beings should know that without intent, traversing such a plane would equate to swimming in circles.”

“I do have a plan, sister.” Elizabeth said with a very clear roll of her eyes. “The Great Seal. The cards our Master presented me with, they must mean that the Seal is in danger.”

“The seal holding back Nyx?” Margaret asked, her brow knitting together. 

“So, you understand my urgency.”

“That is not our place to interfere either, Elizabeth.” The oldest attendant said, after a moment of thought. “That simply means that humanity’s wish for death has come to its resolution. I do not blame them. The world is quickly on the path to becoming a chaos-ruled hellscape.”

Elizabeth gawked at Margaret. She was trying so hard to be cool- detached. The attendants of the Velvet Room were to be nothing more than guides, the _animus_ of their respective guests that ushered them and humanity towards the right answers. But they were still alive, and had flaws of their own. If there wasn't humanity, then there wasn’t a reason for Elizabeth or her siblings to exist. So, in Elizabeth’s mind, it made complete and total sense to preserve them in whatever means possible. Save whatever humans they could so that humanity could continue to flourish. 

“You do not believe that. And I don’t think that you only came to this plane in order to track me down as well.” Elizabeth said, sternly. Margaret’s eyes narrowed. “Your own guest is in danger. His soul is in danger, and if he continues combatting Persona-users, then his physical form may reach ‘resolution’ as well.” 

Margaret’s stern gaze faltered a bit. “...Fine. I wish to see if I can find the remains of Narukami’s soul and deliver them to the Velvet Room. They’ll be safe there- I think…” 

“You’re not sure? How careless, sister.” Elizabeth replied, dryly. “Perhaps you should just let him perish. Then we’d have something in common.”

“Elizabeth…”

Margaret’s words fell on deaf ears as Elizabeth turned around, continuing her trek through the endless sea. Technically, finding the Great Seal would be close to the ‘end’ of the Sea of Souls- keeping Nyx at bay from the rest of the Collective Unconsciousness. If Nyx did escape, then her journey to corrupt the Sea of Souls and destroy humanity would at least have a chance to be stopped. Theoretically, of course. Nyx was a being of impossible comprehension. The more realistic outcome would be that they would just be able to slowly delay the inevitable until the Seal could be fixed. 

Margaret caught back up, grabbing Elizabeth by the shoulders. “At least tell me the card that has you so worried. The tarot has many meanings.”

“Number 13. Death.” Elizabeth replied, bluntly.

“The death tarot represents change and new beginnings.” Margaret said, dissatisfied. 

“The death tarot also represents death, dear sister.” Elizabeth retorted. “Sometimes taking the tarot at face value is useful. For example, if you drew a Hanged Man card, you would be wary around ropes for a while.”

Margaret started to reply, Elizabeth cut her off.

“My experiences with death are much more personal. You may be my elder, but for once, it seems that I’m the more experienced in this regard.” She turned around, before looking off into the distance. “We’re getting close. I can feel it.”

“Me too.” Margaret said, shoulders tensing. “...No, Elizabeth, doesn’t this feel more… potent? I’ve rarely visited the Seal myself, but the resonance emanating from it was more subtle. Almost like a lingering feeling of melancholy. This is more of an abrupt wave of… apathy.”

Elizabeth nodded in terse agreement. Of course, another thing briefly caught her attention. 

“...When did you visit the Great Seal?”

“I only visited occasionally. To pay my respects. For a while, I visited in the hopes of finding you.”

Elizabeth glanced away, before focusing on the issue at hand. The two siblings continued forward, before hearing a cry of pain. It was… familiar. Although, she couldn’t very well put a finger on who it was…

“Theodore!” Margaret cried out, shooting forward.

Ah. That made sense.

Elizabeth quickly followed behind, the dark backdrop of the Sea of Souls shifting into an ethereal gold as they approached the massive door of the Great Seal, landing on the gilded steps leading to the area. The two of them ran, before spotting a large, dark form. 

A massive, animalistic form. It’s body was a shifting mass of shadows, clinging loosely together as they swirled about. A pair of heads, one on each side of its body. Both heads had a pair of horns, massive and golden, pointed at the end with a sharpness that could pierce a hole in the cosmos itself. Red eyes glinted, darting about with an animalistic and deadly fury. Both heads had a massive maw, dripping with viscous shadow energy and filled to the brim with sharpened and deadly teeth. One of the heads was glaring down at a form trapped under one of its massive claws, watching as its prey struggled to get out. 

A man, dressed in a celestial blue, struggling to escape. His hair was stark white and slicked backwards, his eyes tense and furious- glinting a beautiful gold. 

“Theo!” Elizabeth called out. The man turned to look over at them, as the other head of the beast turned to face the two Velvet sisters. A beast that Elizabeth was far too familiar with.

Erebus. 

Erebus was a being of pure malice. A being that only represented humanity’s desire for death and destruction. It’s only goal in life was to break the Seal and let Nyx loose. Still, Elizabeth had beaten Erebus a number of times with ease- so watching Theodore struggle with such an apparently easy opponent was rather humorous. Until she got a closer look at the scene. 

Theodore was wounded. His suit was torn, and a large scratch crossed his cheek. Not drawing blood, but the fact that Erebus left a mark at all was cause of concern. Elizabeth’s gaze trailed towards the massive door of the Great Seal, before she took a step back, eyes widening in horror.

It was open. 

Or, more accurately, broken.

A massive gash in the middle of the gilded door caused a flow of dark, fog-like energy to leak out of it. Energy that was flowing into Erebus, and making the vicious beast larger and stronger by the second. There was a brief blur of blue as Margaret shot forward, a tarot card spinning around her.

“Come, Loki! Niflheim!” 

A dark, winged Persona shot forth from Margaret, sending a flurry of cold air towards Erebus. It seemed to slow and freeze the beast slightly, giving Theodore enough time to break free from the beast's grip and head over to Elizabeth.

“...It has been a while, sister.” He said, with a slight bow. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, before placing a hand on his cheek, her thumb carefully pressing on the cut. He winced.

“You’re hurt.” She observed.

“I noticed.” He replied, before hearing Margaret cry out in pain. The siblings looked over as Margaret pried her leg from the massive jaw of one of Erebus’ heads, dropping to the ground as a piece of her dress was ripped away. 

“Erebus is stronger.” She observed once more.

“I noticed.” Theodore replied again. 

“We’ll need to coordinate. I’d say a collective megidolaon would be able to erase this monster for the time being and give us time to regroup.” 

“We’ll need to open him up. Wear it down a bit.” Theodore said, before suddenly sprinting toward the monster. Elizabeth did the same, the three Velvet Siblings darting around the massive Shadow, pelting it with a number of spells and attempting to weaken- if not simply wear it down enough for one final strike. Battles were supposed to be trivial to Elizabeth and her siblings. As far as she knew, she was unable to be killed. Fights with their guests simply lasted long enough for them to present the extent of their mortal power, and then after a dramatic show of conceding, the guests would be rewarded. But this was actually starting to take some effort. Each spell, each swipe of Erebus’ claws, each scratch that landed on their bodies was concerning. The beast was never cutting deep enough to draw blood- but the fact that Elizabeth was getting the feeling that he would be able to soon wasn’t exactly reassuring.

The three of them jumped back, Elizabeth trying to regain her composure as she swept her hair back. “So, this is fun and all, but perhaps we should end it?”

Margaret straightened her shoulders- also apparently trying to hide the fact that she was beginning to get winded. “...I agree. Theodore?”

He was already summoning. “Let’s just do it, yes?” 

Elizabeth pulled out her compendium, the pages rapidly flipping on their own as she held the book open. Margaret and Theodore did the same, powerful Personas forming behind them.

“Come to me, Masakado!”

“Now rise, Oberon!”

“You have been chosen, Beelzebub!” 

The three of them shone with a mystic light, almighty energy gathering around them as their eyes glowed fiercer. 

**“Megidolaon!”**

A massive wave of blinding white energy shot from them, slamming into Erebus. The shadow howled, growing violently as it tried to push back against the wave. And… it was pushing back. It was drawing residual energy from Nyx after all- none of them expected it would be easy. Elizabeth felt herself losing her footing from the sheer pressure Erebus was putting into its resistance. 

“Put your back into it, Theodore!” She cried out.

“I’m trying!” He yelled in reply.

“Both of you, stop whining and focus!” Margaret snapped at the both of them. 

They continued to push their energy forward, before Elizabeth caught the shape of two large, winged Personas hovering overhead. She squinted as she tried to make out their shapes. “...Helel and… Satan?” She murmured, before she had to force her attention back on dispelling Erebus. 

Her focus was broken for a brief moment longer as she heard a voice echo within the ‘chamber’ of the Great Seal.

_”Armageddon.”_

A massive blast of energy fell from the sky like a meteorite, slamming into Erebus and causing it to break in two- the beast screaming in pain. The moment was all the three attendants needed, making one final push as the almighty energy consumed the beast. 

After a brief flash, Erebus was gone.

The attendants sighed in relief, Theodore dropping down on one knee, taking a break to breathe. Margaret folded her arms, closing her eyes as she took a few careful breaths. Elizabeth looked around for the source of their help, before her eyes fell onto a familiar form approaching them from the destroyed door. 

A boy. No older than his late teens. He wore a black school uniform over a messily tucked-in white shirt. A pair of headphones dangled around his neck, and he adjusted a faint, red armband around his arm. Elizabeth’s eyes widened as she took a step closer, and got a better look at him. A feeling of dread swept over her as she got a better look at his features. His skin was pallid, and his cheekbones were becoming visible. His hair, instead of being a heavy, dark blue was instead a pale, almost smoky blue color. His eyes were a dull blue, surrounded by dark rings that almost made him look corpse-like. He seemed… thinner, too. Still, despite that, it was him. It had to be him.

“...Makoto?” Elizabeth asked, tentatively. The boy approached, his expression apathetic until he got closer, where his eyebrows seemed to raise in slight recognition.

“...Liz.” He said, his voice quiet, hoarse. 

Elizabeth ran over, arms out to embrace him. He held out a hand, shaking his head.

“Don’t.” 

Elizabeth dropped her arms, frowning. “...Why not?”

As if to prove a point, he got close enough to touch her. His fingers pressed against her arm, a moment of solidity, before suddenly fading through- almost in a ghostly manner. “...Thought so.” He said, after a brief sigh. “This barely counts as a ‘body’ anymore. Just a… deteriorating soul.” 

Margaret and Theodore approached, the oldest sibling giving Makoto a brief nod. “You’re the holder of the Universe Arcana. Elizabeth spoke quite highly of you. It’s an honor to finally meet.”

Makoto looked at Margaret for a brief moment, before sliding his hands in his pockets. “...Sure. Thanks, I guess.” His gaze left the attendants, staring out into the vast space of the Sea of Souls. “...It’s beautiful. Shame it’s going away soon.” 

“What do you mean?” Theodore asked, anxiously.

“Look,” Makoto lazily pointed back at the broken seal. Erebus was gone, but the dark remnants of Nyx were still leaking out and spiraling into the Sea of Souls, heading… somewhere. “...Humanity is screwed. No way around it. Unless I can get back up there and seal it.”

“So do so.” Margaret said, somewhat harshly. “You wield the powers of the Universe. You can do anything. So fix it.”

“No.” Makoto replied, before yawning slightly.

“No?” Margaret echoed, appalled. 

“Can’t do it.” He held out his hand, a faint tarot card shimmering in his palm. It spun quietly, torn and battered. “The ‘Universe’ both the card- and the actual thing- are in the process of falling apart. The Universe Arcana is carried by people's hopes. Their desires to become better, and to push themselves forward. Like Death, it stands for beginnings and ends. I always thought it meant my end, but… there’s more to the Universe than me.” The card faded away as he closed his hand. “...Everything is going to end.”

He turned to the Great Seal. “...This was a wall between Erebus, Nyx’s psyche, and Nyx’s physical body. I’ve spent years listening to her sleep, her dreams echoing in my ears. There’s no malice. No drive. Just the sense of being- and her being represents the end. But her ‘being’ wasn’t enough. Erebus was a conductor- Nyx’s energy would gather in him, and he’d serve as a carrier. We obliterated him for now, which means that there’s technically more time to fight back. But… what’s the point?”

Elizabeth’s eyes widened. “You don’t truly mean that, do you? You can’t just condemn humanity as well!”

“...All things come to an end, Liz. I’ve accepted my death. My actual body is six feet under, and probably been pissed on by a bunch of animals. I don’t care. Maybe… it’s time for everyone else to go too. I don’t like it, but...”

Margaret folded her arms, shaking her head. “You’re not entirely correct, Makoto.”

Makoto raised an eyebrow. 

“When Nyx comes to be, and the Fall truly happens, that means we failed.” She began. “My siblings, Master Igor, Philemon, Nyarlathotep, we all failed. This universe will have no reason to exist, and instead of it passing on silently, it will be destroyed and recreated by greater powers. Any chance of growth and hope utterly obliterated.” 

“...Were we supposed to know this?” Elizabeth asked. 

“Pay attention when the Master is talking sometimes, Elizabeth.” Margaret replied, haughtily. “However, Nyx is just one of two Greater Powers. If we can awaken Nyx’s ‘other half’ so to speak, then our chances of utter failure turn into a coin toss. And… I much prefer a 50% chance to a 0% chance.” 

“Other half?” Theodore asked, quietly.

“Nyx is a primordial being. A being born from nothingness. However, she wasn’t the only one. While she was born from the budding darkness of the universe, another was born from the budding light. We simply need to call upon its power.”

“You say it like it’s easy, sister.” Elizabeth commented. “We’ve never heard of this being before. We have no idea how to call upon it, or even where to start.”

Theodore folded his arms. “I think we start with the Master of Masters, Philemon.”

Elizabeth’s brow furrowed. “But Master Philemon is weakened at the moment. Even speaking drains his energy.”

“Theodore has a point. Philemon’s knowledge of our universe is much deeper than ours. We simply need to restore Philemon to power- enough power to be able to consistently converse with us, and therefore give us a starting point on stopping the Fall and restoring balance to the world.” 

Makoto raised a hand. “Uh, I don’t know who this Phil guy is, but I’m guessing restoring his power would mean restoring hope in humanity?” He sighed, sliding his hands back in his pockets. “Guess I’m going to have to save everyone again.”

Elizabeth nodded. “Our best bet is to defeat your successor, Narukami Yu. His soul is corrupted, and while he may be challenged by wave after wave of Persona-users, he only grows stronger. If we can defeat him, then handling the rest of the demons plaguing Tokyo and slowly the rest of Japan will be much simpler. That, and even with a weakened Universe Arcana, I still believe your power exceeds that of the World.”

“I’d hope so. Seems like a shitty ‘universe’ if it can’t outclass a planet.” 

Elizabeth smiled to herself. She missed him. 

“Seems like we have a goal, then. Traverse the Sea of Souls, reach Narukami Yu, beat him, and then awaken Nyx’s other half in order to truly prevent the Fall.” Margaret stated, before starting to head off towards the edge of the Great Seal’s realm, the others following close behind. Elizabeth stayed close to Makoto, almost worried that he would fade away and leave her behind again.

Still, she was a bit worried. Normal humans didn’t stand a chance against the newly awakened Izanagi-no-Okami. 

Hopefully they could refrain from fighting him until Makoto arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEXT CHAPTER: The humans don't refrain from fighting.


	17. Yin-Yang

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adachi and the possessed Yu face off. Kei asserts his title of Number One. Naoya gets pissed.

The ride to Tokyo had been… awkward, to say the least. None of the Persona-users from Mikage-cho really wanted to speak to Adachi, and outside of Nanjo relaying the situation to the rest of them, none of them seemed like making small talk either.. He understood why. He was a convicted murderer, serving time for the deaths of young, innocent women with no real motive. His case was impossible for an average person to figure out, and he passed enough tests thrown at him by law enforcement for him to come across as ‘sane’ despite his story presenting the contrary. In fact, his case was so troublesome that any lawyers that had even attempted to help him actually pleaded for him to simply fake insanity for the courts, so that part of his case could at least be easily dismissed. But he hadn’t- and so while they had thrown him in a very secure, very brutal prison- they still questioned him over and over again. Waiting for him to slip. Waiting for him to muddle up some detail about the ‘T.V World’ he spoke so adamantly about in order to dismiss it entirely. 

But he hadn’t. Because unfortunately for the Japanese legal system, he was completely and entirely sane. Perhaps not the most mentally stable or healthy, but he had his wits about him. The wits that had led him to Inaba. The wits that had almost allowed him to get away with a string of murders if it wasn’t for Yu-kun and his ridiculous group of friends. 

Adachi’s brow furrowed. Yu. Narukami Yu was an absolute pain. He was self-righteous, overly optimistic, and relied too much on others. Their relationship was complicated. While the rest of Narukami’s little ‘Investigation Team’ despised Adachi, Yu seemed to at least… tolerate him. As if the kid wanted Adachi to be better. Knew Adachi could be better. If things were different, and times had changed, then maybe Adachi could have become an honest cop and saved lives instead of killing them.

...Fat chance.

Still, there was some charm to it. The same charm someone got from watching a toddler learn to speak from the first time. Sure, it was utter nonsense, but there was some merit to the fact it was trying. Yu-kun was a uniqure beast, and while his philosophy was naive, Adachi respected the fact that it was something that Yu truly believed in. And Adachi respected Yu’s viewpoint- at least somewhat- just as he respected the fact that in the grand scheme of things, Yu-kun won the ‘game’ that Adachi had established. 

That was the only reason he bothered defending those officers when the demons attacked the prison. Adachi wasn’t a ‘good guy’- not a hero that people called on to save the day- but Adachi’s price for losing the game was to adhere to the rules that Yu-kun held so dearly. That meant ‘protecting others’, and making sure people didn’t die unnecessarily- and blah blah blah.

But this was different. Yu-kun, according to that big shot Nanjo’s debriefing, had been possessed by his own Persona. That sense of ‘justice’ that Yu held so dearly to had taken over his mind and body, and now he was nothing more than a puppet.

Adachi would have thought that was hilarious, if he hadn’t been in a similar situation.

He hated how much he related to Yu. He knew exactly how Yu felt. He was trapped within a prison of his own making, watching his own body speak and act with a voice that wasn’t his own. A power so much greater than his just yanking him about like his limbs were attached to wires. His fists clenched, his brow furrowing. 

“Ah… Adachi-san?”

He looked up at the source of the quiet voice, staring quietly at Sonomura Maki. From a distance, she looked innocent. The same wide-eyed, ditzy gaze that he could have easily hurled into a television years ago. But from closer inspection, there was a darkness. Or at least a sadness. Something weighing down on the girl. This chick had been through some kind of hell, or maybe worse. He smiled at her. The same disarming smile that he had used so often when he was just a ‘regular cop’. She saw her shudder slightly. Good. 

“What is it, Sonomura-san?” He asked, casually.

She held her hands neatly on her lap, making steady eye contact with him, her brief moment of discontent passing. “You knew Narukami-san personally, yes? I suppose I just wanted to know how you felt about having to confront him.” She said, her voice even. “...You seemed concerned.”

He seemed concerned? His aloof smile twisted into a wry smirk, which only seemed to put Sonomura more at ease. Then again, it was a more ‘honest’ expression. Clearly they knew his track record. No reason to totally play nice. Still… he wanted to call Sonomura’s assertion ‘ridiculous’. So he did.

“Sorry, Sonomura-san, but the last thing I am is ‘concerned’. I’ve been wanting a rematch with Yu-kun for years.” He said, chuckling. He leaned back, yawning boredly. 

“I don’t believe that’s totally true.” She said, calmly. “While I’m sure you want a rematch, I’m also a bit certain you didn’t want it to be like this.”

...Now she was starting to piss Adachi off a bit. Sitting all calm and trying to analyze him. Sure, she might have had a point, but still! “...The hell are you? Some kind of therapist?” He asked, scowling. He leaned forward slightly. The one named Naoya seemed to tense up, his hands clenched into fists, fully ready to hit Adachi if he even attempted anything, probably. Mayuzumi did the same, except the photographer actively cracked her knuckles, glaring him down. He smirked for a moment, before looking at the girl he was talking to earlier.

An expression that resembled slight smugness crossed Maki’s normally docile features. “Actually…”

“We’re close.” Nanjo interrupted, his statement emphasized by the sound of growing thunder. A strike of lightning shot past the helicopter, narrowly missing it, causing all of the people inside of the vehicle to tense up and mentally prepare themselves, Adachi included. Lightning strikes were supposed to be random, but that seemed more focused than anything. Of course, there was nothing exactly comforting about the thought that Yu-kun was either trying to send a message, or literally shoot them out of the sky. Another strike. 

Okay. So either Yu-kun’s aim sucked, or he was trying to get them to catch a clue and turn around. How merciful. He got up, leaning out the doorway and staring. 

...So, apparently this whole situation at the Kirijo Group’s Tokyo Headquarters was a lot more intense than he imagined. Outside of the massive, seemingly endlessly deep chasm- which he had a number of opinions on but didn’t exactly feel like stressing himself regarding it at the moment- there were also the fallen bodies of several people. A lot of people in uniforms, and a couple that he recognized from that whole ‘Midnight Hour’ fiasco. Mainly that Featherman Actress chick. She wasn’t in costume, but a body like hers was hard to forget. He whistled to himself, before continuing to look around the area, finally catching a glimpse of Yu-kun. Same silver hair, same dumb face, and theorhetically should have been the same dumb kid. Still… his posture was different. More regal. Confident. But like, too confident, as if he would be willing to stare a god in the face without flinching. 

Nanjo started barking orders. “Alright. Tohru-san, you’re our first line of attack. I’m granting you the privilege of facing Izanagi alone for the time being.”

Adachi rolled his eyes. “Thanks, your highness. I was gonna do it whether you liked it or not, but I’m glad you gave me the ‘O-K’, I guess.”

Nanjo scoffed, before focusing on the others. “Yamaoka resists electricity and lightning attacks, and Durga is neutral. So, with that in consideration, Yukino and I will be providing support if Tohru doesn’t perform well or is being overpowered. Toudou, due to Amon-Ra’s innate weakness…”

“You want me to stay back?” Naoya replied, somewhat insulted. “Listen, Amon-Ra can handle a couple of lightning bolts, okay? Besides, it won’t matter if I don’t get hit.”

“We don’t have a full understanding of Izanagi’s abilities. Some reports- as sparse and incomplete as they are, considering how he’s been able to shut down most frequencies just by… existing- they’ve reported people falling under his control. I’m going to assume that he needs to be able to use an ability on you to do so, and I’m wagering it’s either electric-based or Almighty. Are you understanding me so far, Toudou?” Nanjo explained, his tone sharp. Naoya’s aggressive posture lessened as he sat back, arms folded. “I would rather not have to deal with a berserk Narukami and you. Besides, you need to protect Sonomura and the civilians piloting this helicopter.”

“...Kei, I’m assuming you want me to provide support… Do you think Verdandi has the range to do so from up here?” Maki asked, furrowing her brow. 

Adachi cleared his throat. “Don’t worry about it, cutie. I’ve got this covered. Yu-kun needed all his little friends to stand a chance against me last time, he doesn’t stand a damn chance now.” He stood up, standing at the edge of the helicopter, preparing to jump out. He closed his eyes, focusing.

_”You call upon me again? Do not forget. You are merely a hollow puppet to my power. I am the one God who decides.”_

Adachi scoffed. For something claiming to be his ‘other self’, his Persona sure didn’t know shit about power dynamics. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Come to me, Magatsu-Izanagi.” The sky boomed above the helicopter, causing it to rock as power began to fill Adachi. A dark, sickening energy seemed to emanate from his body, as his eyes flashed a violent yellow.

“The hell? That’s Adachi’s power…?” He heard Yukino murmur in awe behind him. He glanced behind him, shooting Nanjo and his little gang a smirk, before suddenly jumping off the helicopter. A trail of red and black energy followed him, the form of his Persona suddenly bursting forth and sending a gust of wind under him, controlling his descent. He landed in front of Yu, shooting the silver-haired man a cocky smirk. 

“There you are, Yu-kun. I’ve heard you’ve been causing some trouble lately.” He said, coyly. Yu slowly turned to face him, and Adachi suddenly felt his own confidence waver a bit. 

He was never afraid of Yu- he had no reason to be. Sure, the kid was strong, but he was also a bit of a pushover. Too nice for his own good. That sort of thing. This was different though. Yu’s eyes were a vibrant blue, sparks emanating from them at a constant rate. His expression was wholly judgemental, and he didn’t look at Adachi with any kind of familiarity. Adachi summoned his Persona in full, Magatsu-Izanagi looming behind the former police detective. ‘Yu’ scowled, holding one arm out to the side, hand opened. A blade made of pure electricity formed within his grasp, as the former leader of the Investigation Team pointed at Adachi with an air of derisiveness. 

_”My name is Izanagi-no-Okami. Humanity has only lead a life of sin and chaos, and so I am here to deliver punishment and freedom. I would grant you the same freedoms, Tohru Adachi, but as you stand- you are nothing more than my Shadow. A version of myself that I can not let exist in the new world. I will give you the chance to end yourself, your sacrifice will be seen as a martyrous action for both you and I, and the demons will regard your story with honor and respect. However, if you chose to fight me, then I have no choice but to kill you myself. It saddens me so, but you are only human, and I’ve been tasked with cleaving through humanity before.”_ He pointed to the bodies that littered ‘ground zero’. Police officers, Persona-users, and civilians alike. Some of their bodies were being dragged away or devoured by demons. They seemed to be avoiding the Persona-users, but Adachi wasn’t sure how long that was going to last.

He glanced to the side, watching as a rope ladder fell from the helicopter and Yukino and Kei jumped down from it, tense but remaining patient.

Good. He was going to be the one to handle Yu-kun.

Adachi turned back to ‘Yu’, scowling. “You know, I always thought Yu-kun was a self-righteous kid, but I’d take his talk of friendship or whatever other bullshit ideology he’s fallen under over this.” Magatsu-Izanagi readied it’s blade, a rumbling chuckle escaping from it. ‘Yu’ sighed, readying his own blade.

_”Stay your hand, Adachi. I am trying to salvage this universe. Fighting you all is both wasting my time, and my patience.”_

“Nanako-chan wouldn’t be so happy to see you either.” Adachi chided. One last ditch effort. After all, Narukami was stupidly close with Dojima’s brat. 

_”The girl named Dojima Nanako has fallen victim to the intense sin of materialism. Her ‘happiness’ is derived from frivolous, useless things and ideals. Once Tokyo is taken, I will take this entire country, including Yasoinaba. She will simply have to perish and relinquish her soul to be awakened as a Demon.”_

...Adachi wasn’t the biggest fan of Junes either, but that seemed a bit extreme. 

Still, it confirmed that whatever small, lingering guilt he would have after mangling this version of Yu-kun was basically negligible. He didn’t even warrant Izanagi’s diatribe with a response, simply having his Persona lunge forward and attempt to stab the false god in the gut. 

Izanagi blocked with ease, and the two began to go at it. Adachi had remembered Yu being quick- he was a pretty fit teenager after all, but Izanagi was in a class of his own. For every attack Adachi even attempted to throw out, it seemed as if Izanagi had already landed several of his own without any sort of effort. Of course, when Magatsu-Izanagi landed a hit, it seemed to do a decent bit of damage, but it didn’t seem like a long-lasting strategy if he was being torn to shreds by an amped-up Yu. His prison uniform was littering in slashes, 

Adachi roared, his Persona flaring forth and releasing a tornado-esque gust of wind surrounding the two. It seemed to stagger Izanagi a bit, as the false god winced and seemed to lose his footing. Adachi lunged forward, his Persona mirroring his motion and slashing violently with it’s weapon, digging into Izanagi’s shoulder. The silver-haired man screamed in pain, releasing a terrifying wave of electricity that sent Adachi flying backwards. 

_”Why… do you… resist?”_ Izanagi huffed, resting a hand on the gash in his shoulder.

“I was never... very... religious.” Adachi replied, panting. “Ready for round two?”

_”...You… fighting you is giving me a sense of ‘conflict’. Your relationship to Narukami is impractical. I’m ending this.”_ He closed his eyes, the ground beginning to rumble as a swarm of demons began to surround him. They began to fade, breaking apart into a mist-like substance as it began to be absorbed several times over into Izanagi. 

“The hell are you doing?!” Adachi yelled, running forward. His assault was blocked by more demons, their eyes glazed over as they continued to be absorbed into Izanagi. Kei and Yukino decided that this was a decent time to step in, the two of them summoning their Personas and attempting to destroy more demons than were being absorbed into Izanagi, to little avail. 

_”Fusion. Wild Cards are capable of manipulating the fusion and creation of demons. I am simply making the most of this power. Philemon was a fool to entrust this to humanity, but as a God, I will make the most of it.”_ Izanagi announced, before lurching forward, the amount of demons fusing into him slowing and eventually dwindling. 

Adachi watched in horror as Yu’s body began to stretch, mutate, and distort. His body began to grow lankier and herculean, his shirt bursting off his body. His height seemed to almost double, his limbs becoming lankier and more inhuman. His skin transitioned from already pale to an almost porcelain white. His lips faded into an unnaturally black coloration, and as the ‘god’ grimaced and bared his teeth as his body changed, Adachi could see that his teeth were sharpened to a dangerous degree, and lined with what seemed like gold. The stunning blue electric energy tricking from his eyes turned to a violent red that began to pour from his face at an unsettling rate. His hands began to flex unnaturally, his fingers sharpening into gilded claws. Izanagi leaned forward as two massive spikes burst from his back in a bloody cascade, humming with electricity. 

Kei and Yukino grouped up with Adachi, tensing and preparing for a fight. “...He’s forsaken the last of his humanity. Tohru-san, we’ll need to--”

“Work together? Yeah, no shit.” Adachi muttered. 

_”I have given you chance after chance to accept my kindness. If humanity remains as it is, then Ruin is inevitable. By letting the inner demons of humanity loose from the distorted, arrogant shells of man, I will be able to lead them to greater salvation. You choose to resist. You feel as if your own egos are strong enough to fend off the coming threats. The Fall of Humanity is soon, and if you do not want to join and prosper in my new Kingdom, then you are nothing more than obstacles that I need to squash.”_ Izanagi lamented, his voice barely resembling Yu’s anymore. It was low, so heavily distorted and crackling with energy, and it seemed to almost be projecting directly into Adachi and the other’s heads. _”You three will be the ones to die, but fear not. I will build my new Civilization upon your bodies, and those who knew you will lament your falling.”_

Izanagi held out a hand in an almost casual way as lightning began to gather. Adachi knew he was preparing an attack, that much as obvious, but the more energy that seemed to gather with Izanagi, the more lethargic he felt. His legs felt weak, as Yukino pointed out the obvious.

“He’s… draining our power! Is he allowed to even… do that?” She said, through gritted teeth. She tried to stand tall, summoning her own Persona and flinging a massive fireball towards the confident Izanagi. The fire seemed to dwindle as it grew closer, before being absorbed into the mass of energy that the former Narukami Yu was collecting. 

“...Spirit Drain… damn it, we need to… retreat!” Kei ordered, before dropping down to one knee. He weakly clenched his fist. “Yamaoka… carry Yukino back up to the chopper. We’re falling back.” He said. His partner looked back at him with shock.

“What? No way, Kei! We can… we can fight!” She yelled. Adachi rolled his eyes.

“Just go! Both of you! I’m sure Magatsu-Izanagi is stronger than both of your worthless Personas. So get a move on, and I’ll keep Yu-kun occupied!”

Adachi heard a flash as what he assumed to be Kei’s Persona appeared behind them, grabbing Yukino by the shoulders and beginning to heft her upwards. She struggled, screaming for Kei to let her go, as Kei stepped up beside Adachi. “...How do you feel?”

“Not great. I’ll just tank the hit. Yu-kun has to be in there, and I know he doesn’t want me dead.” Adachi reasoned. Nanjo’s brow furrowed. 

“...That won’t do. Not unless you can resist lightning.” 

_”...Your time to chat has passed. You will be missed. I am truly sorry.”_ Izanagi lamented, although it seemed to be hollow. Izanagi faced his palm towards the group, before a burst of electricity can 

“Tohru-san, watch out!” Adachi felt Kei push him back as a figure dove out in front of him as the energy seemed to collide. His ears rang as his vision was filled with a bright light, and he felt himself and Nanjo fly backwards. The two of them tumbled to the ground, as Adachi’s senses were filled with bright light, harsh noise, and the disgusting smell of burning flesh.

_”...That was supposed to obliterate him entirely. How curious…”_

Adachi’s vision began to clear, as Nanjo lay on top of him. His torso was smoking, his clothes in tatters. His glasses were nothing more than shards. There was a brief moment of stillness, before Adachi noticed the subtle rise and fall of Nanjo’s chest.

“Woah. Nanjo-san, you’re still--”

Kei’s eyes were heavy, almost empty. He spoke, his throat sounding dry and scratchy. “...Bested by the Creator God… it makes sense, I suppose. After all, who better to defeat the number one man in all of… Japan…” His eyes slowly trailed upward, Adachi following his gaze to see his Persona drop Yukino off on the helicopter. He carefully locked eyes with Adachi, giving the criminal a stern look. “Tohru-san… I...”

Adachi slowly tried to sit up, shifting the smoking body of Kei slightly. “...You’re talking a lot for a dying guy. The hell were you even thinking, you rich prick? Why’d the hell did you…” He trailed off as Kei’s eyes closed. “...save me?”

There was a moment of silence as Kei went still, only punctuated by the sound of Maki screaming.

* * *

Naoya’s arms were wrapped tightly around Maki’s waist as she tried to pull herself forward. Her hands frantically reached out as she almost tried to dive out of the helicopter to get to Kei. 

“I-I can heal him! I can save him!” She screamed, her Persona flickering in and out like a dying candle as she tried to struggle free from Naoya’s grip. She turned to face him, tears racing down her cheeks. “Let me go, Naoya! Why am I even here if you won’t let me help! Why are any of us even here if we’re just going to let Kei die!” She yelled at him, one arm breaking free and elbowing him in the face, knocking him back.

“...I can’t let you go down there, Maki.” He said, quietly. “Kei is gone, and I don’t think ‘Izanagi’ is gonna let us be lenient with our healing spells.” He slowly got up, towering over Maki. He didn’t make eye contact with her, instead glancing over at the recently arrived Yukino, who was trembling with frustration. 

“...Bastard. Always trying to be some sort of big shot hero. Why the hell did he--”

“Yukino.” Naoya said, his voice even despite the adrenaline racing through his body. “Stay here with Maki. I’m going to help Adachi-san.” He looked out as Izanagi began preparing another attack, lightning gathering and Adachi frantically trying to at least pull himself up to his feet. Naoya’s fists clenched, his shoulders shaking as his eyes shifted over to the smoking form of Nanjo Kei. 

“Like hell you are! I’m coming too, Naorin!” Yukino protested. 

“No, you’re not.” Naoya said.

“Naoya, you’re weak to electricity. If… if he did that to Kei, then…” Maki’s voice broke. “...We don’t stand a chance.”

“I know.” Naoya replied. “Kei wanted you to retreat, right? There are more Persona-users in Mikage-cho, and in Sumaru City. Hell, Kei has data and locations on people we haven’t even met. You two go, I stay, and I’ll see you on the other side.” 

Yukino grabbed his shoulder. “The fuck is wrong with you? Don’t try to leave like some badass! We’re a team! Always have been, always will! We don’t fight alone, Naorin. We made that mistake by throwing out Tohru to handle Izanagi by himself, and he gave that bastard god enough time to start fusing. If you’re planning on goin’ on some suicide mission, then do it alongside people you care about. Nobody deserves to die alone, and maybe with Maki and I on the field, we can start turning the tides.”

_”U-um, is n-n-now a good time for me to b-butt in? Y-you were having an Anime Moment, and I d-d-didn’t want to break the tension.”_

Naoya, Maki and Yukino both went quiet at the sound of a teenage girl’s voice ringing through their heads. Naoya blinked, looking around. “...Uh. Hello?”

_”It’s meeeee. Your inner womaaaaaan. S-sorry. Th-that wasn’t funny. O-okay. Here’s a little recap from me. L-l ast thing I remember, I was f-falling off a building and things were exploding because of Nyarla-whatever. Bang crash, h-hit my head and like, 100% started having a panic attack. Felt a powerful S-shadow, decided to hang back and have a panic attack while also slowly regaining my energy. Wish I did it faster though. L-like, a ton of people are dying, and not in a way where you can just pop a ‘Recarm’ and hope they s-stand back up. And… and...”_

The voice was young, and despite how talkative it sounded, she did sound a little bit shaken up. Or, well, shaken up and desperately talking in order to avoid thinking about much else.

“Please keep talking.” Maki said, keeping her tone even and mature, despite the obvious signs of distress still on her face.

“Your inner woman is really freakin’ young, Naoya. Never knew you were a pre-teen girl deep down.” Yukino said, laughing somewhat nervously.

_”First of all- I’m sixteen! Second of all, that was a joke, I’m actually just… well, around. Whatever crap Izanagi is pulling is definitely messing with my maps. Third of all, call me Fut-- call me Oracle. I’m a Phantom Thief.”_

A… Phantom Thief? What the hell was a ‘Phantom Thief’?

“The Phantom Thieves are real?” Yukino said. “Huh, thought it was just an urban legend. Although Nanjo did say they were related to this whole situation.”

_”We’re not!"_

“What’s a Phantom Thief?” Asked Naoya. Maki raised her eyes in slight surprise.

“Have you been living under a rock? They were the biggest craze in Tokyo for the past year? Stole the hearts of evildoers? Currently being scapegoated for blowing up the Kirijo Building and sending a massive wave of demons to destroy Japan? Kei briefed us on this.”

“Wasn’t listening.” He replied, simply.

Yukino rolled her eyes. “Of course you weren’t. But… while I’m glad to have some levity, how are you planning on helping us Little Miss Phantom Thief, we’ve got a dead body on the ground floor and-"

_”...Give me some time. I’ll see if I can pinpoint some weaknesses, or at least a way to make it out with both your friend’s body and the other guy who’s about to get wrecked.”_

Right. Adachi. Naoya glanced down towards where Adachi was still scrambling for his life. They should help with that.

Maki slowly got to her feet, nervously rubbing her arm. “Ah… Oracle-chan. Do you need us to get to you?”

_”Focus on the big guy, don’t worry about me. I… my team is gone, I think. So you all will have to do. If I couldn’t do better then, then I’ll do better now. If I can’t help you win this, then I don’t deserve to see anyone ever again.”_

Maki bit her lip. “No… Oracle-ch--” Naoya placed a hand on Maki’s shoulder, shaking his head.

“She’s right. We’re Tokyo’s last line of defense for now. If we fail, everyone is done for. Let’s focus.” He heard a crash of thunder as the group ran to check out the side of the helicopter, watching as Adachi was scrambling his way out of the path of several lightning bolts. His eyes narrowed as he felt the energy from his Persona swell up inside him. He leaped off the helicopter, gripping onto the rope ladder to slow his decent before reaching the ground. Izanagi stopped his assault on the increasingly more weary Adachi as he turned to face the three newcomers to the fight. 

_”...I see. You there, young man. You hold the Creator God ‘Amon-Ra’ within your soul. Allow me to free him. We are cut from similar cloth, after all.”_

Naoya didn’t respond as Yukino landed behind him. Maki shortly after, having descended a bit more carefully. The three of the walked over to Kei’s body, Naoya kneeling down and carefully picking up the remains of his scarf, the ‘#1’ symbol he so proudly branded singed and barely visible. He grit his teeth, his arms trembling as he neatly folded the scarf, resting it on top of Kei’s body. 

_”Vessel of Amon-Ra. Do not ignore--”_

Naoya snapped his fingers, a burst of flame shooting up in front of Izanagi, cutting him off. Naoya gripped onto the scarf, nodding and Maki kneeled down in front of him, summoning Verdandi and furiously attempting a number of healing spells. None of them found purchase. 

Yukino scowled, turning to face Izanagi as the fire subsided. 

Naoya stood up, Maki following behind. He held out his arm, Amon-Ra slowly forming in front of him as the heat began to rise. “...You’re going to realize that you made a massive mistake.” He snarled, as power began to coalesce in Amon-Ra’s scepter. 

_”Why is that, Vessel?”_ Izanagi replied, somewhat curiously. 

The ground under Izanagi’s feet began to glow with faint hieroglyphs, rising and spinning as they trapped Izanagi within their grip. The god seemed confused for a moment, attempting to break free from the spinning sigils as Naoya prepared his opening attack. The sigils began to spin faster, wilder, as they glowed brighter and brighter. They tightened around Izanagi, before pressing and burning into his skin, before it all suddenly finalized as a massive explosion of mysterious, almighty energy. Naoya scoffed, preparing to fight as Yukino and Maki also took up battle stances. A dangerous smirk crossed his face.

“...’Why’? Because you pissed me off.”


	18. Fiendish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren fights a demon, and discovers a bit more of the world he's in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We haven't had a Ren-chapter in a bit, and you all deserve some more Ren. Here's your nasty crimeboy.

His fight with that robot girl had left him… confused, for the most part. While he had felt vitriolic in his victory for a moment, the more time that passed as he and Akechi slowly continued forward was more time for his mind to mull over the morality of what he had done. The girl was a robot- that much was obvious, but the way she had cried as he removed her ‘face’ was chilling. Almost like his hands had been rending apart actual human flesh. That robot had a power similar to his, and that inherently meant a destiny similar to his, right? Wild Cards were supposed to work together, forge forth a better future with their power. That was the feeling he had gotten from Narukami-san…

His head hurt. Narukami-san. Narukami-san had taken the time to help him for no other reason than blind faith. He had never really looked up to anyone before- not an adult, really. Maybe Sojiro, but with his jumbled memories and how all they seemed to reflect was that all of his time spent in Tokyo was an elaborate machination from Nyarlathotep, he wasn’t sure if his bonds with Sojiro, or Yoshida, or Kawakami- any of the adults in his life that claimed to believe in him- were actually legitimate. And it was an awful feeling, because it forced him to doubt everything that he had believed for an entire year. Forced him to feel as if he was a puppet for something greater. That in this world, whether he approved of it or not, he was finally free.

...But even still. 

He glanced over his shoulder at Akechi, who gave him a passive, somewhat flippant wave. His relationship with Akechi had been… complicated. Akechi was someone who Ren could relate to, on a multitude of levels. The loneliness, the need and desire to be wanted, the ‘call’ to be something greater. Akechi was a like-mind amongst the friends that he had made in the past year, but… if none of that was real… then how real was his bond with Akechi? And something felt different about this Akechi. As if he was wearing another mask again, trying to chip away at Ren’s emotional defenses by playing the part of calm, calculated detective instead of the vicious, feral self that Ren had seen in Shido’s Palace, and during the Third Semester. He hated the masked, reserved Akechi. The Akechi built up on nothing but lies. It unnerved him, as if it was only some sort of beast that looked like Akechi, and not the true one.

“You seem bothered.” Akechi said, stating the obvious. Ren’s eyes narrowed as he turned his gaze away from Akechi. 

“I’m fine.” He replied, curtly.

“We both know that’s a lie. What’s bothering you, Ren?” Akechi picked up the pace, now walking side-by-side with his rival. Ren didn’t bother looking Akechi in the eyes, afraid of what he would see. Afraid of finding out that even the bond between the two of them was nothing but a lie. He felt like he had so little left, and as sick as it was, he didn’t want to lose Akechi too. He chuckled to himself, dryly. Akechi was far from the most important person in his life, but having to let Akechi ‘die’ back on Shido’s ship filled him with so much guilt that it would wake him up on some nights. Letting someone else die- killing someone else- those things seemed to still invoke a visceral sense of disgust in him. He rationed that it made sense. The difference between a Phantom Thief and the common criminal came with a respect for the art. Phantom Thieves didn’t leave bodies behind, trails of blood in their wake, and tears shed. 

Although the more he traversed through this twisted city, the more that moral code seemed to crumble onto itself. He shot Akechi a brief, pointed look. The detective chuckled, rolling his eyes in a playful manner.

“Come now, Joker. I’m not going to explain each and every detail about why I’m here. Frankly, I don’t know myself.”

“Then how do I know you’re real?” Ren snapped. Akechi raised his eyebrows in the slightest hint of surprise. “You could be manipulating me like everyone else. Playing me like some sort of pawn. Is that what I am to you, Akechi? A pawn? Answer me.”

Akechi’s brow furrowed, as he rolled his eyes again, this time in an irritated manner. “Did dismantling that robot shake you so much? It’s a machine, Ren. A machine that was built to summon Personas, or constructs like Personas, nonetheless it wasn’t alive. And that demon you killed, Gabriel, she wasn’t alive either. Stop approaching this place with your arbitrary sense of justice and morality, and be willing to fight for your life. The strong are the ones that survive in this world, and you’re strong, so show some damn initiative to survive.” Akechi hissed, before walking past Ren, continuing forward. Towards the tower that… the closer Ren seemed to get to, the more familiar it seemed. It's shape almost like a mixture of robot and human. Ren shook it off, realizing he was starting to trail behind, before a figure seemed to slowly approach them from a distance.

It was a more humanoid demon than the others, but a demon nonetheless. He felt a presence, an implacable fear that seemed to well from the center of Ren’s soul. Ren could make out more details as the demon approached with a stylish, almost performative sense of swagger. Teal clothes fluttered in the gentle wind as the gold trimmings adorning it seemed to shine and sparkle with a true sense of glory. White tights clung to the demon’s leg as he strutted forward. A red cape in one hand, brandished forward in a taunting manner. A blade in the other, pointing accusatory towards Ren. A withered, skeletal face stared straight at Ren, as the demon clicked his heels against the ruined earth once, clapped his hands together- items still in their grasp- and let loose an excited, confident chortle. 

_”So, this is the little human boy that slaughtered the Archangel Gabriel. Adorned in a costume fit for a performer, dancing around attempting to assert his ideals upon demon-kind.”_ The skeleton laughed heartily, teeth chattering, as a few demons that hadn’t seemed to be killed in Aigis’ assault peered their heads out, and let out a few weak cheers. The skeleton seemed to sink in the cheering, spinning in a brief circle before shaking his red cape towards Ren, as if he was some sort of bull. _”Come to me, human. Brandish your pathetic little horns and roar as you attempt to quell the great Matador. Killing an angel is a grave offense, and I have been tasked with destroying you, and saving our beautiful world!”_ Matador threw his arms in the air, as more demons seemed to appear, letting loose a more raucous set of cheers and applause. 

Ren slid his hands in his pockets, sighing. Even he could be a showboat at times, but this was feeling ridiculous. “Right, Matador. I’ve summoned you before. You really weren’t that impressive. Sure, the psio skill was useful, but after a while you became fodder.”

Matador seemed to take this comment in stride, letting out another hammy laugh and gesturing and looking broadly to the sheepish crowd of demons, as if wanting them to be amused and appalled by Ren’s statement. The demon held a hand up to his… well, where his ear would be, making an overly broad show of looking around, as if listening for something. _”Ah, do you hear that? Beautiful music. Beautiful cheers! Beautiful demonic beauties waiting for me after I win this fight. Come, my kin, do you not hear it as well?”_ The demons seemed to get louder. Akechi seemed to back off to the side, giving Ren a sardonic smirk.

“He’s all yours, Joker. You can handle this.” He said, before taking a seat next to some weak-looking demons and some debris. 

Matador’s skeletal head rattled tauntingly. _”Tell me, ‘Joker’, was it? I vaguely recall you relying on my power. Hear me now. You only conjured up an ideal of ‘Matador’. A performer, a showman just like you, perhaps even a mask, may I say? A fraction of the true Fiend you stand against today. Tell me, demons of this beautiful New Makai, what is Matador!?”_

A drove of demonic voices spoke up.

_’A hero! A symbol for all demons!’_

_‘A dreamboat! Please, fuse with me!’_

_‘A total hunk! Those bones, aaah!’_

_‘A true demon! Nobody messes with a Fiend!’_

Ren slowly drew his knife. While that internal fear he had felt a few moments earlier had been somewhat quelled by Matador’s hamminess, it seemed to be returning as Matador carefully posed, his blade pointing straight at Joker. 

_“Listen to those beautiful cries of support! Faith in me, The Matador, is truly enough to make me feel as if I could carve the planet itself in twain!”_The demon nodded approvingly. _“Listen now, young Joker. Does a human of your stature truly choose to make waves in our world? Then show me! My blade shall slice through your resolve, and show all of demon-kind whether you truly are worthy! En garde!”_

As soon as the words emitted from Matador’s mouth, the demon was suddenly gone in a burst of unexpected speed. Ren’s eyes widened as he looked around wildly, before hearing the eerie, excited chatter of teeth as Matador chuckled above him. Ren narrowly rolled out of the way, Matador’s blade slicing towards the ground and carving a massive gash in the earth. The skeleton landed with perfect poise, bowing towards the slowly growing crowd of weak demons. The cheers grew louder, and Ren grew more irritated. He lunged forward with his dagger, before it was effortlessly parried by the Fiend and Ren was knocked away with a delicate swipe of Matador’s cape, helplessly fumbling backwards as it let loose a powerful gust of wind magic. Ren tumbled across the ground, his dagger clattering to the side.

He looked up. Akechi seemed to be stifling a laugh. The crowd of demons weren’t as polite. Snorts, chortles, and giggles filled Ren’s ears as he slowly pushed himself up to his feet, grabbing his dagger as Matador stood in his battle pose, waiting for Ren to make another move. Ren charged forward, anger and irritation filling his head as he swung his knife wildly, Matador practically dancing out of the way of Ren’s techniques. Ren grunted with irritation as he missed yet again, before Matador let loose a flurry of well-timed slashes, with a strange mixture of speed and precision that swept Ren off of his feet, sending him crashing to the ground. The small crowd of demons let loose another wave of excited jeers as Matador backed up again, waving his red cape and making grand gestures towards the crowd. 

“Joker!” Akechi hissed. “What the hell are you doing?!”

Ren slowly sat up, shaking bits of dirt and dust from his hair. “I… he’s faster than me...” He mumbled, weakly.

Ren looked over at Akechi, who was glaring at him. The detective gave him a withering stare. “He’s a bullfighter, moron!”

“I know!” Ren replied, slowly pulling himself up to his feet. “How does that help?”

“Think, Joker. Who the fuck do you think the bull is in this situation?”

There was a moment as Ren’s mind raced, before his eyes widened. Right. The noises, the cape, the overly showy performance. He closed his eyes, taking a brief breath in order to compose himself. He wasn’t a brawler. Someone who charged forwards with no sense of rhyme or reason. He was the leader of the Phantom Thieves. Cool, composed, and stylish in his own right. He postured more confidently, his grip on his dagger tightening.

“Right. I am Joker, of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. I have stolen the hearts of all of Japan, and now…” He spun his dagger, tossing it in the air briefly before deftly aiming the point of his dagger towards Matador. The crowd seemed to react in some surprise and anticipation, a low hush falling as the two warriors pointed their blades at one another. 

_”This resolve. This is the young man who borrowed my mask!”_ Matador said, and while reading a skeleton’s expression seemed impossible, Joker had the feeling that the demon was practically beaming. _”But a simple speech changes nothing. Show me your resolve! Sing to me with your blade!”_

Ren sprinted forward, watching as Matador braced himself, before suddenly leaping over the demon’s head. The crowd gasped as Ren swiftly swung his blade towards Matador’s back, the skeleton narrowly dodging out of the way. Ren’s eyes narrowed- Matador had the advantage when it came to speed. Luckily, he had just the technique for that. He stood up, rolling his shoulders back before reaching to his face and throwing off his mask, the demons watching as it flew into the air and began dissolving into a mass of cursed, dark flame. The flame spun, whirling before forming the newly awakened Joker-Arsene. The cursed Persona hung behind Joker, before letting out a monstrous roar. The demons let loose a gaggle of excited murmurs.

_’Is that… a demon? I’ve never seen it before!’_

_‘So powerful… but it seems familiar…’_

_‘He’s a demon tamer? I wonder how many Life Stones he has…’_

_‘Hee-holy sh-hee-t, ho!’_

Matador himself seemed impressed, staring at Ren for a moment, before calmly exhaling through his bony nostrils. _”...I see. This will prove quite interesting indeed.”_

Ren snapped his fingers, as Joker-Arsene let loose a wave of dull green energy, watching as it settled and clung onto Matador. The skeleton’s shoulders sunk slightly, as if it was weighing down on the demon. “Sukunda.” Ren said, before running forward, landing a direct slash onto Matador’s leg, watching as the demon seemed to collapse. Matador grunted, before knocking away Ren with another gust of forceful wind. This time, Ren managed to land on his feet, chuckling. 

“How’s my resolve for you now, Matador?”

_”Lacking, my boy.”_ The fiend replied, before standing up, shaking out the leg that Ren had slashed, before waving his sword calmly. There was a beat as Ren braced for Matador’s next attack, and the demon let loose a flurry of powerful slashes, the force of which enough to send Ren on the defensive, diving and rolling out of the way of the gashes the demon was making in the air itself. The few that did catch on seemed to fill Ren with an intense pain. The Matador smirked, rushing forwards at a pace impressive even with his reduced speed, swinging his sword at Ren. Ren quickly parried, ducking out of the way, before the high-speed battle was forced into a close-combat blade duel.

The two fighters huffed as both dagger and sword struck one another, never breaking eye contact. Matador had stopped with the wild brandishing of his cape, focusing entirely on the sword strikes, each one narrowly grazing a vital part of Ren when the phantom thief wasn’t fast enough to parry. Strike against strike, slash against slash, Matador finally managed to trip the young phantom thief off his feet, sending Joker dropping to the ground. 

_”Young Thief, you have fought well, but it is now time for the killing blow!”_

Ren braced himself, eyes nervously looking over at his dagger,

**Kill him.**

A voice shot through Ren’s head. Malevolent. Haunting. Chaotic. He was filled with a new resolve, an unfamiliar one as he wildly slashed with his dagger, the blade surrounded by a dark, chaotic, almost viscous energy as it slammed against Matador’s sword, shattering the demon’s blade in the process. Bits of metal flew everywhere as Matador recoiled in surprise.

A moment passed. Or… more like there seemed to be a jump in Ren’s memory, the next thing the young man was able to discern was being on top of the skeleton, knife to the Matador’s neck. Ren was panting, sweat practically pouring from his face. Matador let out a nervous chuckle.

_”That pure, unfiltered chaos… if I am to fall, then I am honored to die at your hand.”_

Ren blinked, his mind a jumbled mess. He was going to kill this demon- Akechi had said that killing a demon wasn’t any sort of big deal, but while he was fine in regards to fighting in self-defense, the Phantom Thieves weren’t murderers. Although it seemed… hypocritical. He had slaughtered thousands of shadows, but this was different. These demons seemed to have more personality, more life. Not mindless creatures that roamed around palaces, falling whim only to their rulers- or the masses of discarded human thought that wandered Mementos. Ren gulped nervously, his hands shaking, before he climbed off the demon. “You’re… beaten.” Ren said, his voice shaking slightly. “That’s enough. Concede.”

The crowd of demons booed, as Matador stood up. _”...I see. The ferocity of the true, chaotic demon, and yet you still have the heart of a young human. I am grateful to you.”_ The demon walked over to the shattered remains of his blade, picking up the hilt of his sword. _”Mercy isn’t the way here. Most demons do not even know the term. But you are a true warrior, a true showman, showing me true sportsmanship. You will prove quite useful to us indeed.”_

Ren raised an eyebrow. “...Useful? Useful to who?”

_”The Fiends, of course. You’re coming with us.”_

“Like hell I am!” Ren replied.

Matador shook his head, looking somewhat downcast. _”You never had a choice. It is time, David!”_ The skeleton looked upward as another, smaller skeleton, wearing a hat with a pale yellow feather, vest, and knickerbockers- all colored maroon, hopped down from the roof of one of the ruined buildings, before pulling out a worn, wooden fiddle. The demon began to play, starting softly at first, gently skipping circles down the ruined street before stopping next to Matador, still carefully playing his instrument. ‘David’- as Matador had called him, began to play louder, the music starting to fill Ren’s head in an almost dizzying way.

Ren looked around as David continued his haunting melody, the demons present falling into a trance, swaying rhythmically. The only one that truly seemed unaffected was Matador, who was standing confidently next to the comparatively shorter demon continued to dance and play. He looked over at Akechi, who was covering his ears with gritted teeth.

“...’Danse Macabre’. Of course.” Ren’s companion spat bitterly. Ren focused back on the skeleton, drawing his knife, beginning to walk closer as David began to play faster, and Ren quickly began to feel as if he had just taken a spin on the world’s worst roller coaster. He dropped to the ground, slowly crawling his way towards David, his thoughts beginning to crash together at an even more maddening pace. The world seemed to be spinning, unable to focus on anything but the tiny form of David and his twisting song, and even the form of David began to distort and multiply, filling Ren’s vision, before it abruptly went black.

* * *

Ren slowly began to come to, still feeling delirious. He leaned his head back, staring upward into a darkened, raised ceiling. His vision began to focus, ever so slightly, as he vaguely looked forward, seeing a number of skeletal demons. He slowly began to regard them- the robed, ominous forms of Four Horsemen (weirdly without horses), and the rough, punk, leather-adorned shape of the Hell Biker’. Of course, a cold pair of tiny hands tugged on his cheeks, forcing him to acknowledge yet another demon that was watching him from an uncomfortably close distance.

A little girl- human from first glance. Neatly done blonde hair hung around her head like a halo, as wide eyes stared at him with curious intent. Still, as wide and as curious as those eyes were, they were hollow. Devoid of any true life or emotion, colored a sickly yellow. Just as fiendish and cold as the empty, skeletal eyes of the other demons surrounding her. She giggles, one hand letting go of his cheeks and slightly flicking him in the forehead. 

_”Awh… you’re not dead. You look so fun to play with, though! Can you please die so we can play, Mister?”_

Ren blinked, before letting an uncomfortable chuckle escape from his lips. Alice. “...Unfortunately not. I have some things to do.” He said, as the young girl pouted, folding her arms. One of the horsemen- it was hard to tell them apart when they weren’t on their horses- chuckled mirthfully.

_”Depending on how he handles this situation, he very well may die soon. But for now, do not torment the boy.”_ One of the riders rumbled. Ren, still a bit delirious, said the first question that came to mind.

“...Where’s your horse?”

The rider stood in silence, before sighing. _”...Waiting, as most steeds do. You do not truly think we live on our horses, do you boy?”_

Ren’s silence answered the horseman’s question, as the four of them- while their expressions were hard to discern, Ren could at least guess they were either irritated, unimpressed, or a mixture of both. Alice skipped over to one of the riders- this one wielding a scythe- and clung onto his robes, sticking her tongue out at Ren. 

_”Alright, alright. Enough chit-chattin’.”_ Hell Biker finally spoke up, before stepping in front of Ren, one hand in his pocket. _”Bet Shaggy-hair here is wonderin’ what the fuck is goin’ on yet, amiright, or amiright?”_

Ren nodded.

_”Aight, here’s the deal. Hate ta’ break it to ya kid, but you’re officially property of the Fiends. We were supposed to be killin’ ya for the death of an angel, but we’ve got bigger and better plans for ya’. Any questions?”_

“Yes? A lot? Like, first of all, what the hell is a ‘Fiend’?”

Hell Biker scoffed, looking back at the others for a brief moment before focusing back on Ren. _”Can’t fuckin’ believe this kid… the Fiends are an independent sect of demons. We’re too strong to be wrangled by the angels, but if they’ve got enough macca- wait, you know what ‘macca’ is, right kid?”_

Ren shook his head. 

Hell Biker groaned. _”Oh my fuckin’-- ‘macca’ is money, aight? Makes the world go round? Bling? Ka-ching? Ba-da-bing? Not that ‘yen’ shit, not fuckin’ ‘dollas’, but good ol’ Em-Ay-See-See-Ay. We get hired for different services. Ya’ know what a ‘service’ is, kid? Or a ‘deal’? Or a ‘job’?”_

Ren rolled his eyes, before giving the demon a slow, sarcastic nod.

_”Anyway, the Shijima hired us--”_

“What’s the ‘Shijima’?” Ren asked. 

_”Fuckin’ really? Humans don’t know jack shit about shit, I swear. The Shijima are the ruling class of demons, basically the angels. I’d go as far as to call ‘em the current ruling class of demons- sound about right?”_ He turned back to his companions for confirmation, they all nodded collectively. _”Very clean, very neat, and while they preach about ‘order’ and whatever, they still basically either follow the laws of the land, or hide up in their shitty little sky-temple so they don’t have’ta fight. Down here? This is Yosuga demon turf. A constant free-for-all, and where actual life happens. You either live, you die, or you have enough goods or macca to keep demons from killin’ ya. Only the strong survive, world of chaos, yadda yadda, can I keep tellin’ you what the actual deal is?”_

“Go ahead.”

_”Oh, THANK you SO much for GIVING me PERMISSION to SPEAK. Fuckin’ prick. Anyways, the Shijima hired us to go after the little turd that killed Gabriel- that being you- and want to have your head served up to their boss on a silver platter. HOWEVER, we- the FIENDS- have other plans for you. Especially from what after good ol’ Matador told us. You rattled him pretty good. Dude has to reforge his sword and everythin’. David told us all the shit, about how you fuckin’ snapped and rage-attacked Matador before fuckin’ tacklin’ him to the ground and everythin’.”_

He… did that? He guessed that was what happened in that short gap in his memory, but all that did was worry him. Still, thinking back to that fight and ‘David’, he immediately remembered Akechi. “Wait, what about my friend? Brown hair? Kind of condescending?”

_”David mentioned a friend. Dude actually up and dipped as soon as you passed out. Which is really fuckin’ impressive, considerin’ David’s music can drive even the most sane people crazy, and has been able to drop some pretty fuckin’ strong demons. Your ‘pal’ is pretty impressive.”_

Akechi… left him? Didn’t even try to help, just bailed as soon as he realized that fighting was useless? Ren’s eyes found their way towards the floor, as Hell Biker sighed.

_”Don’t get so pissy, kid. The Shijima are out there hunting down humans anyway. At least you’re safer if you sit here and work with us.”_

Ren blinked. That didn’t seem right. After all, Gabriel was wholly reluctant to fight Ren at first. If Gabriel was an archangel- which he could assume was a fairly high position in regards to the ‘Shijima’ demons, was against fighting humans, then… “Wait, but Gabriel--”

One of the horsemen spoke up- this one holding a sword. He took a blind guess and assumed it was Red Rider. Red Rider seemed like the ‘sword’ type. Red Rider shook his head, hollow eyes boring into Ren. _”Gabriel, and her kin- Uriel, Michael, and Raphael, were quickly removed from their full positions of power once the new regime came into place, and humans became a target- both sinners and believers. While a few angels follow the removed archangels, the Shijima sect is ultimately under new management.”_

Ren raised an eyebrow. “But… who?”

_”The fallen angel, Lucifer.”_ Red Rider practically spat. 

Lucifer? That… seemed like a big deal. Lucifer was a pretty powerful Persona, but wasn’t he the ruler of demons or something? That seemed… dangerous. Bad. Ren’s brow furrowed, Hell Biker opened his jaw to say something else before the sound of a new set of footsteps broke the flow of conversation. Ren looked over to see Matador.

_”Mother is ready. Send the boy in to her.”_ He said, quietly, most of his bravado gone, before walking off. Ren was hoisted up by Hell Biker- as he quickly realized that he wasn’t actually restrained- probably a sign of confidence on the Fiend’s part- and was carried into another chamber before being roughly thrown onto the ground. This chamber seemed to be set up more like a stereotypical throne room, and found himself staring into seven, animalistic demonic heads, each one adorned with a crown. He yelled, scrambling backwards, before realizing that all seven heads were connected to one larger beast. They snapped at him, maws dripping with saliva, before he heard someone clear their throat. 

He looked up to see a woman. A woman with long, pale, and elegant legs, with revealing clothing of red and purple coloration. Dainty, gloved hands gently swirled a bejeweled chalice that seemed to be emitting an ominous pillar of smoke. A rancid, skeletal head rested upon the body’s shoulders, jaw chattering as she chuckled, before taking a sip from the smoking chalice. Ren could guess this was the ‘Mother’ that Matador had mentioned before. 

_”I am Mother Harlot, the Whore of Babylon.”_ Her vile teeth chattered. _”Thou hast summoned me before, so you shall be grateful to see thy beautiful visage once again, no?”_

Ren had a lot of things to say. But offending Mother Harlot and her gross skeleton face was probably a bad idea. So, he instead uttered a weak ‘mhm’, as the fiendish woman tittered.

_”Good, good. But, dear child, I hopeth thy children were not too rough upon thou. They can be awfully barbaric at times, although I pray their actions do not reflect dishonorably upon thou. I hope they have at least toldeth you of our situation?”_

“Vaguely.” Ren replied, glancing over at Hell Biker. The demon flipped him the middle finger.

_”Biker.”_ Mother Harlot snapped towards the leather-wearing demon. _”Do not act with such vulgarity. If 't be true thy explanation was lacking, then you are at fault. And keep in mind that this boy is our esteemed guest. Hath't some dignity, and don't embarass me.”_

_”...Y-yes, Mother.”_ The biker replied, meekly. 

Ren smiled to himself, before the demoness continued speaking. _"Matador did betoken me about thy square. Thee wast truly impressive to hath't bested him. A human with such capabilities is a rare thing to findeth, and especially one with such furious resolve. It’t thee will allow me, i wanteth to asketh a favor of thee.”_

Ren raised an eyebrow. “Uh, no promises, but go ahead.”

Mother Harlot seemed to take that as ‘good enough’, and began to speak. _”Lord Lucifer is the ruler of the demons as of now. Once the great deliverer, Nyarlathotep, obliterated the majority of humanity and did open up a gateway for us demons to rise from, we did take ov'r the remaining cities, this one serving as our 'capital'. Lucifer, being the first and most powerful to truly rise, waged war with the remaining aspects of hope in regards to the greater wills of the universe. I believeth this incarnation is known as the butterfly god, Philemon. After destroying Philemon, Lucifer did doth becometh ruler of the demons, and Nyarlathotep did seem to vanish and returneth to being a watcher, due to his grand goal being achieved. He did doth build a new status quo of chaos, whither the stronger ravage the strong, and the strong trample the weak- and being the strongest of all, he did find himself king. However, he also asserted himself as king of the angels as well, slaughtering the mighty archangel Metatron as his hopeful angel kin did tryeth to scrounge up any remains of God and greater willpower.”_ Mother Harlot sighed, gently petting the monstrous beast she rode upon. _“This was supposed to beest a new world of freedom, a world whither anything was possible, but as time did pass our Lord Lucifer did doth becometh stagnant, only willing to gaze and sitteth on his throne. Instead of a world of freedom, our realm is turning into a world of monotony and boredom. Death is meaningless, and strength is becoming less of a true concept and moo of a pitiful buzzword. This hath gone from a world of true action and chaos, to a hollow realm that is 'chaotic' in name only.”_

Ren folded his arms, thinking. So, the Fiends were frustrated at Lucifer because after throwing the world into Chaos, the world just seemed to stagnate and only find itself as a pointless cycle of violence instead of actually being the world of freedom that was promised. “...And what do you want me to do about that, kill Lucifer?”

_”Precisely.”_ Mother Harlot said, simply.

Ren’s eyes widened. The woman chuckled, nodding to herself. _”Yes, precisely. Thee hath't the ferocity of a demon, and the heart of a man. A growing corruption finds itself stirring within thee, capable of taking on most wondrous wills and powers, and Lucifer hath becometh nothing more than the pathetic replacement of the greater wills he fought against. Thee shalt becometh a mixture of man and fiend, perhaps we shall call you a... ‘Demi’... Well, I haven't fully doth considered the terminology yet. We hath't ways of truly making the most of thy potential. We wilt fuse thee with our grand elder, Daisoujou, and thee shalt becometh powerful beyond all belief.”_

Ren’s eyes widened. Fuse him? His mind raced back to the guillotines in the Velvet Room and he shuddered. “Um, maybe I’m not the right person for this job, Mother Harlot. Really, I think my win against Matador was a bit of a fluke.”

Mother Harlot shook her head. _“I truly believeth thee can defeat Lord Lucifer. In thy hearts, thee hold an aspect of yond unholy angel, doth thee not? I can see it. Sense it. Thee wilt becometh a Slayer of Gods for the fiends, and I will also grant thee a Goddess to assist thee. Matador did find a delicate, young vessel after David did force thee into unconsciousness.”_

“Listen, I’m flattered, but I’m not fusing with anyone anytime soon. So I think I’ll just be on my way and--” He felt a strong set of hands on his shoulders, before Hell Biker hoisted him up, gripping him tightly. 

_”I don't wanteth to doth this, young sir. But thee wilt becometh our slayer of the divine, whe'r thee wanteth to or not. Hell Biker. Prithee, throweth him into confinement with the young mistress that is to beest our goddess vessel.”_ Mother Harlot commanded with a disappointed sigh. He was carried off, his attempts to break free of the demon restraining him being fruitless.

He was tossed into a dark cell, slamming against the ground. It was makeshift- the bars being haphazardly yet absurdly tightly welded to the ground. His cell was one of a few, some of them containing weak looking demons- all of them either asleep, or too weak to even speak. Hell Biker gave Ren a derisive scoff, before walking off. There was a moment of silence as Ren thought. Mother Harlot said something about him having an aspect of Lucifer. That had to mean Satanael. So… were they planning on extracting the ‘demon’ inside of him, and fusing it with Daisoujou in order to create a newer, stronger version of their ‘Lord Lucifer’? He stared at the ground, before hearing the sound of happy skipping.

Alice hopped up to the outside of Ren’s cell, giving him a wide smile. 

_”You’re going to die soon.”_ She said with a giggle.

“I’m not going to let you all fuse me.” He replied. “I’ll escape.”

_”That’s not what I mean, Mister. You’re indecisive. All wishy-washy. You need to remember where you stand, or else you’ll end up falling. It doesn’t really matter to me though, if you die- we can be best friends!”_ She gave him a tiny wave before skipping off, her glowing, hollow eyes disappearing into the darkness. 

Ren realized he was alone again. No Akechi. No Phantom Thieves. Just him. He sighed, laying down on his side. Someone spoke up behind him. A woman.

“...So, I guess you’re that ‘slayer of gods’ they’ve been raving about.” A voice said behind him. Hoarse, but feminine nonetheless. “Looks like I’m going to be your ‘goddess’, then.”

He rolled over, looking at the person who was speaking to him. Messy, long auburn hair clung to her face. Dirt and grime caking it, and the rest of her clothes. Her eyes were red and puffy, as if she had been crying. She held her legs close to her chest, eyes not even making the effort to look at him. A dawning realization seemed to grow on him, even with her looking worse for wear, and in the darkness, the resemblance was almost impossible to miss. He had a poster of her in his room for almost an entire year after all. That was...

“...Risette?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know how obvious it is that i enjoy writing demon dialogue but hopefully a lot


	19. Innocent Sin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sae and Tatsuya confront Lilith. Ryuji runs into a friendly face for once.
> 
> Apollo Prime reveals it's true ability.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Upload schedules aren't real and time doesn't exist anymore sue me
> 
> I guess spoilers for Persona 5 the Royal? Also this is the one chapter that directly references things from a Redux-only chapter instead of vaguely referencing things that happened in both. So, y'know. There's that.
> 
> Will things get easier for our heroes in this chapter? No. But we're building towards some of the big main conflicts, and that's all that matters.
> 
> Also, I'm going to say this here because I don't want to mess with the end notes of this chapter- but I apologize in advance for Queen Mab. That's it. Her dialogue was something I both loved and hated writing and I do technically have translations on hands but I don't think it's THAT bad.
> 
> Anyways enjoy!

Tatsuya had been to Lilith’s Domain in the ruined Sumaru City before. It was, to put it bluntly, a cesspool of sin. It seemed to resemble a nightclub, with dim lights and various demons who seemed to enjoy the act of grinding far too much. Kaiwan floated at the top of the ceilings, spinning as their eyes flashed a variety of different colors. A spell, most likely. Knowing Lilith- they were probably trying to force any humans in here either to fall under a charm, or just flat out confuse them. He kept his gaze focused closer to the ground, glancing over briefly to see that Sae was doing the same. While she was still learning, she at least had enough sense to reason out what to avoid on her own. 

He understood that the social connotations when it came to identifying ‘demons’ was that they were inherently vulgar and promiscuous, but that was rarely the actual case. Demons could end up just as varied in personality as humans, and while they were all a bit more wild, violent, and intense in comparison to their human counterparts- the ruined Sumaru wouldn’t be a ‘world of chaos’ if they weren’t- Lilith’s brand of demons were a little bit more… sensual. That was to be expected- especially considering the large amount of succubi or incubi that floated around the ruined building- but this had to be a bit intense for Sae. Especially since he hadn’t even realized what they were doing to the humans.

While some humans seemed to be having ‘fun’ with the various demons- either out of genuine curiosity or pure fear, perhaps a mix of the two- there were plenty of humans being used as nothing more than furniture or playthings for some of the stronger demons. He heard Sae exhale nervously from beside him, as he glanced over to look at the attorney.

“Stay strong, Niijima-san. Handling Lilith shouldn’t be too much of an issue. At least doing enough damage to cause her to flee.” He stated, simply- although he didn’t entirely believe it himself. Lilith was incredibly powerful, and incredibly high when it came to the natural ‘hierarchy’ of demons. They’d need to be careful- he’d need to make sure to keep an eye on Sae at all times. If she managed to put either one of them under her spell, it was going to prove troublesome. 

Sae nodded. “Right. I- oh, Tatsuya-san.” She pointed to his leg, that an Alp was becoming far too acquainted with. His brow furrowed as he took a step back, the demon rolling its eyes and floating in front of him, daring for him to stare her in the eyes. He didn’t oblige.

_”You’re new.”_ The demon noted. _”You know, humans are always welcome in Lady Lilith’s domain. You’ll be exposed to so many new experiences, you’ll never want to leave.”_

He took the time to survey his surroundings, looking around without giving the demon a second glance.

It didn’t seem like her domain had fully set in. The walls of a demon’s domain were almost flesh-like, writhing and alive as they pulsed with their master’s power. While there were certainly… fleshy sections of the walls, the building that Lilith had taken over were still solid and relatively normal. That was a relief. That both meant she didn’t have total control of this specific area yet, and that she wasn’t at her strongest. His thoughts were broken up as a voice shot through his head. A wave of guilt washed over him as the voice spoke. “Nngh. Not now… not…”

_ **Oi, Tacchan. Why’re you only thinking about fighting? There are like… hundreds of demon babes here. Relaaax.** _

The first voice was rough, masculine. It had a clearness that almost matched up with the strumming of a guitar. Tatsuya shook his head, speaking under his breath. “I… I can’t think about that, Eikichi. Our goal is Lilith.” He muttered to himself.

_ **Quiet, moron! Chinyan is thinking. Although you better not be looking at any other girls. They’re demons! You should just slaughter them. Make them pay.** _

Another voice. A woman. Assertive, confident, longing. At least a decade younger than the woman he had reunited himself with earlier. “Lisa…” He desperately tried to sort things out. “I… no, that’d be a waste of energy, I can’t do that.”

_ **Take things at your own pace, Tacchi. Although I’d sober up. Niijima-san seems worried.** _

One more. This voice seemed to ease his anxieties. Fill him with a sense of love and confidence. The guilt remained though. The guilt always seemed to hang around. “...You’re right, Jun. We can’t rush this.”

“Tatsuya-san.” Sae called out to him, her tone stern. “Are you alright? The demon left. I think it got tired of us ignoring it.” He looked over at the silver-haired woman, reading her expression. She was worried about him. He glanced away, somewhat shamefully. She placed a hand on his shoulder. “...Who were you talking to?” She asked tentatively, as if she wasn’t going to like the answer regardless.

He tried to avoid the subject. “I… was just trying to formulate a plan. We’ll need to be careful about this. Lilith is masterful when it comes to manipulating people, we can’t just barge in without some sort of plan.” He folded his arms, sighing. “Damn it, I didn’t bring any patra stones or Dis-Charms, and I know that I won’t find any here. These demons treat getting inflicted with animents as a high, there’s no way that they’re packing cures.” 

Sae tapped her chin, before closing her eyes. “Is… ‘Energy Shower’ anything? It seems like a support skill, but I’m not entirely clear on the usage yet.”

Tatsuya nodded. “...Actually, that’s exactly what we need. Your Persona is awfully useful, Niijima-san. You were able to summon a defensive barrier earlier, use almighty skills, and you can also handle ailments. Next time we fight, I’ll be trying to keep you on the back lines. You’ll probably be more suited for that.”

Sae nodded, before looking around. “...Moving along though, I can’t believe these demons are treating humans like this. It’s… inhumane.”

“The only worth humans have to demons are as currency, decoration, or nourishment. For these demons, it’s all three, in that order.” Tatsuya said, dryly. “Years ago, Lilith visited one of the few hidden hideouts that held humans. Just… visited, no big plan of attack, she just walked up to the front door and everything. Took the form of a human woman named ‘Yuriko’. With her charm magic, she was able to make the humans in that one bunker accept her instantly.” He frowned, shaking his head. “This was when we thought it was best to keep humanity separated throughout Sumaru, so we wouldn’t be exterminated in one fell swoop. As soon as she joined, she forced that group of people to become paranoid- distrustful of any of us. We lost communication with them a few days later.”

Sae gasped. “So… what happened to them?”

“I was sent out to investigate the compound. She was waiting for me, still wearing that human disguise, clothes shredded and covered in blood. She wept, pretending to lament the deaths of her ‘comrades’ as she coaxed me to come closer. My guess was that she was trying to seduce me. Drop my guard. It almost worked.” He continued, his shoulders tensing. “It almost worked.”

“Almost?”

“Apollo has a natural resistance to abilities that affect the mind. That’s the only reason I was able to have enough sense to attack rather than fall to her will.” He said quietly, staring down at his hands. “...I’m glad I did. It was a trap- I was attacked by dozens of her demons that seemed to come out of nowhere. Cracks in the ground, crates, the corpses of the dead. Anywhere they could hide, they did. I was forced to fight- I tried to stand my ground and take on all of them, but realized I was outnumbered. I was forced to run. I barely made it out alive, but that was the first time I truly met her. Amongst a sea of death and betrayal. She killed so many people. Lulled them into a false sense of trust and stabbed them all in the back. Humanity hardly had anything left besides dwindling hope and dauntless trust, and she mangled it with her bare hands. Made us even more seclusive and paranoid.” He spat, glancing over at Sae as she gave him a slightly concerned look.

“...Is that why you hate her so much?” Sae asked. 

Tatsuya was quiet for a moment, closing his eyes, before taking a deep breath. “...No.” 

Their conversation was cut short as a demon floated towards them. It’s skin was a series of wild and vivid striped patterns of varying blue and green coloration. It’s eyes were a vivid red, and almost rectangular in shape. It’s purple hair was styled in a wild mop, messily flowing behind it. All of the demon's manic design was capped off with a glittering cape made of silver scale-like sequins. It looked at Tatsuya, before clapping its hands together excitedly with a girlish giggle. 

_”Well, well, well, well! Behold who we has't h're! Alloweth me to introduceth myself. I am Queen Mab, rul'r of the faeries, Mistress Lilith's second in command, yadda yadda.”_ The demon said, her tone less befitting of a ‘queen’ and more a high-school theatre kid that wanted to ‘assert dominance’ during a Shakespeare production by talking in ‘old English’ on and off set. That, and her heavy Irish accent made her… more than a bit difficult to listen to. _“I'm so excit'd to seeth thee, though! Mistress Lilith toldeth me that we'd beest getting some v'ry, v'ry special guests. When thy mistress toldeth me, I wast liketh, ‘nay way!’, and the Lady wast liketh, ‘totally!’, and h're thee both art!”_

Sae gave Tatsuya a very confused look. He shrugged. He hadn’t encountered Mab very often. Mainly because most of her strengths weren’t exactly effective against him, so Lilith hadn’t bothered to use her as an enemy much. Still… the fact that Lilith knew they were coming was somewhat concerning. He knew she was smart but… he had been banking a bit on the element of surprise. Of course, there was a reason why Lilith was so highly regarded amongst demons, and it wasn’t purely her looks. 

_”Still. the 'Sun' himself coming to visiteth? What's the nonce? Thee only showeth up at which hour thou art about to scoldeth a demon f'r getting too closeth to a human settlement, or kicketh ass for some random reason.”_ Mab questioned, crossing her legs casually as she floated in the air in front of the two humans. 

Sae raised an eyebrow. “Uhm, ‘Queen Mab’? From Romeo and Juliet?” She asked. Tatsuya rolled his eyes slightly at Sae’s question, but didn’t bother to comment.

_"Aye! Thee've hath heard of me? Of course thee has't, thee behold liketh a lady with gust. Aye, aye, Queen Mab, although mine own reputation goeth far beyond that dram play."_

Tatsuya cleared his throat, woman and demon both looking over at him. “I should introduce you. This isn’t just some ordinary woman. This is Inanna. She’d like an audience with Lady Lilith, and instructed me to escort her. So, if you would, we’re running on a bit of a schedule.” He gave Sae a bit of a nudge, summoning his own Persona- the brilliant light of Apollo filling the dim, raucous domain. Demons instantly focused in on the two of them, and even more so as Sae summoned her own Persona- the semi-mechanical cognitive being standing firmly behind the woman.

Mab stared at the two of them, before backing up slightly. _”Lady Inanna? Goddess of Love and War? I apologizeth greatly for mine own bluntness earli'r, prithee forgive me for mine own rudeness.”_

Sae laughed nervously. “It’s… not a problem, really. You’re forgiven…?” She gave Tatsuya a dubious look, as he nodded slightly. She took a deep breath, before folding her arms. “Although, if we could get going…”

Queen Mab floated closer to Sae, gently pulling and prodding her clothing, and gently caressing Sae’s face. The woman shuddered as Mab spoke. _”...Still, thee've chosen a wond'rful human form to taketh. V'ry attractive. V'ry modern. I'm sure Mistress Lilith shall beest joyous to seeth thee liketh this, aft'r all- the lady's becometh quite fond of donning a human visage h'rself”_ She chuckled, backing away from Sae. She waved her hand flippantly, groaning slightly. _”P'rsonally, t's kind of irritating. Her demonic form is much more beautiful, but the lady's incredibly interest'd in humans. I'm not sure why. Those gents're a dram lame, in mine own opinion. Nonetheless, thou art incredibly lovely, Lady Inanna.”_

Tatsuya exhaled, a bit irritated. “Yes, yes, this is all really stimulating conversation, but if we could get going to see Lilith, that’d be great.”

Mab gave him a withering glare, before sighing. _”I taketh not orders from thee, Sun. Howev'r, since this is a favor for Lady Inanna, I'll taketh thee up. Just tryeth not to do anything 'funny', understand?”_

The demon turned around in a huff before reaching a flight of stairs. Tatsuya looked up, seeing that it actually seemed to continue up a decent distance upwards. Eikichi’s voice shot through his head again. Louder. Pushing itself to the forefront.

_ **We’re gettin’ close. We’ll be able to make that bitch pay for what she made you do.** _

Tatsuya nodded, before beginning to ascend the steps. Mab continued to gush about ‘Mistress Lilith’, about how beautiful and great she was, before starting to address Sae directly as ‘Inanna’. While he was making a point to tune out most of Mab’s rambling, he focused in once she started to talk to Sae, just in case he needed to step into the conversation.

_”Things has't hath changed a lot in thy absence. I mean, I'm sure thee've did expect that Lordd Lucifer hast becometh the rul'r of all demons. That's a gimmie.”_

“Ahaha, yeah.” Sae replied, totally confused. “That… ‘Lord Lucifer’, of course. How is he? What’s… what’s his situation?”

_“Hark, thee mind not if 't I gossip, doth thee? Of course thee don't. Anyways, thee knoweth how Lord Lucifer hast a few gen'rals, right? Mistress Lilith, obviously, but th're art others. Lord Baal, Lord Satan, King Mara, and Divine Sandalphon.”_

Sae nodded, before her brow knitted in slight confusion. “...Isn’t the last one the name of an angel?” 

Tatsuya spoke up. “Lucifer is the ruler of all. Angel or demon. Any sort of alignment is basically just a formality at this point. While the angels want to promote order, they can only preserve so much before Lucifer forces them to relent. It’s a world of chaos only. Order is only allowed so that the other demons can keep having stuff to knock down. That being said, as far as I know, Sandalphon only pledges loyalty because Lucifer killed his brother Metatron and he wants to protect the rest of the angels.”

“I… never expected demon politics to be so strangely intense, but Lucifer seems to be the only thing holding things together, it sounds like.”

Queen Mab scoffed, shaking her head. _”Thee wouldst bethink, but our 'Great Lord Lucifer' doesn't do anything but sitteth 'round day aft'r day. His resolve hast been fading. That gent rests day aft'r day while his loyal subordinates doth all of the work and soweth the seeds of chaos.”_ That was new to Tatsuya. Most of the demons seemed to be content under Lucifer, but it made sense. A civilization under chaos had to crumble at one point or another, and it just so happened that Lucifer was at the top. 

“Sounds like a coup is in order.” Sae said, Tatsuya nodding in agreement. 

_”It certainly doest seemeth that way. I wouldst picketh a side soon, Lady Inanna. The fates has't toldeth us that lucifer's rule is head'd towards dissent and unrest, and eventual collapse. Mistress of Fate Lachesis hast toldeth us so, and while Lord Lucifer certainly hast power, fate is absolute when toldeth by the Sist'rs Three._

Sae stayed silent for a moment, before finally commenting. “Um, excuse me?” 

Tatsuya chuckled. He was surprised she had managed to keep up for this long. “There are three demons named the Moirae Sisters. They essentially know the fates of each and every demon, and can’t be killed. One of the sisters predicts that Lucifer- and therefore the civilization of demons will fall soon, or at least be weakened.” He rubbed his chin. Although, if that was the case, then maybe humanity on the Other Side had a chance. Lucifer would be so paranoid about his throne being usurped he’d start making mistakes. And if Lilith was on this side, then his armies were split. “Humanity has a chance.”

Queen Mab chuckled. _”Thou art c'rtainly a joker, Sun. Here's the thing- Mistress of Fate Lachesis toldeth us that Lucifer's true killer wouldst cometh in the form of a showman clad in all black, with a white mask akin to a bird. The knave's eyes wouldst beest the colour of dwindling cinders. That gent wouldst holdeth a dagger on his hip, and beest able to traveleth from shadow to shadow liketh the most dastardly of Fiends, and beest able to force demons into submission to turneth 'gainst our lord.”_ She glanced over her shoulder as they reached the last flight of steps. _“Lord Lucifer hath called for the immediate ext'rmination of any humans hath found. By either angel or demon. Not even the angels can protecteth thou now.”_

Tatsuya’s eyes widened. “Wait, are you kidding me? Are they actively hunting for the human settlement?” Before it had just been… well, humans were still killed, but angels never felt dedicated to killing humans and most demons would rather enslave them and drain them. That, and most demons didn’t bother to hunt down the human settlement- Tatsuya assumed they found more fun by picking off humans one by one and stirring more distrust and panic. Mab gave him a devious smile, before they reached the top of the steps and she gestured towards the door. 

_”This is where we part ways. Adieu, Lady Inanna.”_ Queen Mab said, with a dramatic bow, before floating back down the steps. The two adults stood in silence, as Sae placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay, Tatsuya-san? Maybe we should leave Lilith alone. You came from where the demons came from, right? Maybe we should get you back there, so you can protect them.” He looked her in the eyes. Stern, tired, and earnest. He shook his head slightly, watching as her gaze turned to slight disappointment. Lisa’s haunting voice rang throughout his skull.

_ **It’s okay, Chinyan. They don’t want your help anyway. They know what you did to Anna. But now, now you can get your revenge. Slaughter that demonic whore. Watch her bleed, make her feel how you feel.** _

He clutched his head. Jun gently spoke within the confines of his mind, calming him down slightly.

_ **Deep breaths, Tacchi. We’re with you. Don’t get flustered. Lilith wants you off your game.** _

He took a deep breath. “...Lucifer is running a sinking ship, and apparently a human is going to kill him. They… don’t need my help. They’re under strong leadership already. Let’s just go confront Lilith, and hope that Sakamoto is making good progress around the back. If things go well, we’ll be able to establish a pincer ambush. Lilith is strong, but we can be stronger. I believe in you and Sakamoto.” He said, as Sae nodded, opening the one door that was available to her.

The two humans stepped inside what… seemed like a normal, professional-looking office. A well-polished wooden desk sat in the middle of the room, two empty seats in front of it. He had faint memories of his time at Seven Sisters High, getting called into the principal's office. A beautiful woman sat at the other side of the desk, daunting silver eyes staring the two of them down, shifting slightly as they seemed to scan and take in each and every feature. She wore a black business suit that heavily contrasted her pale skin, and had long, jet-black hair that rolled past her shoulders. Long, dark fingernails drummed against the desk, drawing Tatsuya’s attention towards a black, simple armband that coiled around her forearm and wrist like a snake. Dark lips tugged into a sly smile as she gestured for them to sit down. 

“Come now, you two. There’s no reason to be anxious. Take a seat.” She sounded human too. Disturbingly so. When demons tried to impersonate humans, it came from an overexaggerated stance of reasoning. It was mocking, in a sense. This was far too natural- there was nothing about this woman that didn’t seem absolutely normal. The woman gestured for them to sit down. Sae looked at Tatsuya tentatively, before carefully approaching, her expression confident- the lawyer trying not to show any sign of fear. Tatsuya was impressed, but Niijima-san had proven herself to be capable before. This wasn’t anything new. 

Sae sat down, Tatsuya following behind and doing the same. “Yuriko.” The man said, bitterly. The dark-haired woman chuckled politely as she stopped drumming her fingers, tenting her fingers and giving him a wry grin. A burning rage seemed to rise in his chest, his jaw tensing.

“So you remember. But, if you’re here, I suppose any sort of preamble for deception is unneeded.” Her eyes snapped over to Sae at an unsettling speed, a stark contrast to her serene, professional expression. “So, this is ‘Inanna’.” She said, stressing each ‘n’ sound in the name. She clicked her tongue. “I truly don’t understand how they believe you ‘Persona-users’ are actually just demons in disguise. I would apologize for their foolishness, but it brought you to me, so I can’t be too upset.”

“So… you know about Personas.” Sae hummed, locking eyes with the demon. “Why don’t you just tell them the truth?” 

‘Yuriko’ shook her head. “I ate from the tree of knowledge, and was gifted knowledge far beyond my comprehension, but I learned. I grew. I adapted. These demons need to grow wiser on their own, ‘Inanna’. That is the only way they can flourish. If you wish, I can share my wisdom with you, though.”

“How noble.” Tatsuya snapped. “But unfortunately, neither I or ‘Inanna’ have interest in your ‘wisdom, Lilith.”

Lilith rolled her eyes. “Always so serious, Sun. But, you’ve been forced to listen to Mab’s mad ramblings after all, so your minds are already numbing, I’m sure.” She smiled to herself, before glancing between the two of them. 

“So. ‘Apollo’. ‘Inanna’. Let us get down to business, hm?”

* * *

Ryuji wasn’t exactly sure what he was thinking when he said he could ‘sneak in easily’. He was too caught up in showing off in front of Niijima-san and Tatsuya-san that he forgot that- while he could summon his Persona and that was totally badass- he wasn’t exactly operating off of full Phantom Thief Power right now like in the Metaverse. He was just a slightly more athletic version of himself. He tiptoed around the building, trying to stick to the shadows like he did back in the Metaverse. He peeked into the ‘domain’ from one of the windows, curious. Tatsuya had talked them up to be this big, bad thing, but when he looked in he just saw a… kinda hot nightclub. 

...He had turned 18 recently. And, like, the demons were kind of sexy. Not even in a weird way, some of them were literally just hot women with bat wings or something. Would they get mad if he just… hung out in there for a little bit, and then did the whole ‘blah blah murder Lilith’ thing with them later? Get a couple dances in, kiss a couple demon babes, and then get to work?

He frowned. Of course they would. He smacked his cheeks. “Focus, Ryuji!” He whispered to himself. He continued around the back, before watching as two demons with large bags and cartoonish moon-like heads were shuffling around, talking amongst themselves.

_”Yo, you think this is enough sleeping powder? We’ve got in a healthy haul of humans so far, but I don’t want none of ‘em shruggin’ it off.”_

_”Eh, who fuckin’ cares. Humans are weak anyway. We can handle ‘em.”_

He could have sworn he’d seen those guys before. He thought back, before snapping his fingers. Those weird moon-headed shadows back at Futaba’s Palace. “Sandmen!” He said aloud, grinning. They were weak to electricity! He could just get the jump on them, zap them a little bit, and then win! 

Unfortunately, he realized that he had basically just yelled their names, out loud, right at them. The two demons turned to face Ryuji, their eyes narrowing. 

_”Who the hell is dat guy?”_

_”Fuggedaboutit, dude. He’s a human and he’s snoopin’ around. Ice him!”_

The two Sandmen charged towards Ryuji, the Phantom Thief summoning his Persona and sending several jolts of electricity towards the two demons. They flew backwards, dissolving into a black dust, which Ryuji guessed meant he killed them. Neat. Well, as ‘neat’ as murder could be, but they were man-eating demons or whatever so it was probably fine. Either way, he was glad they weren’t very strong. Maybe this was going to be easier than he thought.

“Looks like I’m the one who’s doin’ the icin’, uh, bitches!” Ryuji quipped. Well, he was glad there was nobody around who could hear him. He wandered over to the two bags the demons were carrying, opening it. He stared down at a massive amount of glittering, pink powder, which… made sense considering they were talking about sleeping powder. He picked up the bag, before the ground around him rumbled, causing him to stumble backwards and dump the massive amount of powder all over him. “Woah- what the eff…” His eyes began to glaze over at he looked up, seeing a massive demon standing over him. It seemed to be a mixture of a really fat man, and a really fat goat. He found himself dropping to the ground, struggling to stand. “Wuh…”

_”ME FOMOR. ME SHAKE GROUND. MAKE HUMAN GO NIGHT NIGHT. HA HA.”_ The demon rumbled, gripping Ryuji by the scarf, starting to choke him. _”LADY LILITH WILL BE HAPPY. GIVE FOMOR LOTS OF MACCA. LET FOMOR TOUCH HER PRETTY HAIR.”_ The demon rambled, Ryuji stuck in a strange, awful feeling of being forced to fall asleep due to the powder, and his body desperately trying to stay awake due to the demon choking him. He started to lose consciousness before a voice came from above.

“Hang on, Senpai!” A girl yelled, before there was a burst of light. The demon roared, letting go of him as he dropped to the ground. He saw a blur of black rush past him, before another burst of light as the demon roared again in agony, before fading into the same black mist he had seen the Sandmen vanish

His savior ran up to him and tried to lift him up from the ground, before giving up and trying to support his head up instead, resting it on her lap. He stared up at her dizzily, his vision still fading as he drifted closer and closer to sleep, the details hard to make out. He could make out red hair, a black jacket, and a dark bandanna around her face, with two eye-holes. “Senpai, Ryuji-senpai wake up! Hey! Hey!” The girl cried out, before he passed out.

And was suddenly reawakened by a very intense slap across the face.

“Ow! What the hell!” He yelled. The girl jumped up with a scared squeal, his head hitting against the pavement. 

She waved her arms frantically. “Ah! Ohnonono! I’m so sorry, Ryuji-senpai! I- you were just falling asleep- and I thought- nonono- I’m so, so, so sorry!”

He looked over at her. Red hair tied into a ponytail. A makeshift mask made out of a dark piece of fabric with two holes for the eyes haphazardly cut out. A black jacket over a light blue leotard. His eyes widened. “Sumire? What the hell are you doin’ in Tokyo?”

Sumire looked around, before putting a finger to her lips, shushing him. “Codenames, senpai! I’m in Violet-mode right now, and we can’t have anyone learning my identity!”

“You… called me ‘Ryuji’ earlier, though.” He replied, slowly sitting up. 

“Did I? I’m sorry! I was worried. I am still worried, actually. Are you okay? Are you hurt? Ella can heal you!” 

He shook his head, pulling himself up to his feet. He wobbled a bit, before sighing. “Wait… did you say ‘Ella’? You got Ella?” That wasn’t fair. He had only been able to call forth Seiten Taisei. Then again, Sumire was a different case than the rest of the Thieves. She seemed to straddle the line between ‘weird like Joker’ and ‘weird like everyone else’, making her own ‘Sumire-brand’ of weirdness. “Whatever, that’s not important. You still didn’t tell me what you’re doing here.”

“Well, remember when I called you guys about the calling card, and you all said a bunch of vague worrying things about setting off an explosion and Ren-senpai getting kidnapped?”

Ryuji scratched his head. “Sorta.”

“Yeah. Well, I left training camp as soon as possible- I lied and told the instructors I had a sick uncle, and they’re totally going to tell my dad and I’m going to get in trouble later. But I’ll take getting grounded for a bit, because while I know I’m not a member of the Phantom Thieves--”

“You’re not a member of the Phantom Thieves?” When was that a thing? If Akechi was ‘technically’ a member, Sumire was already twice the member he was. Did something happen? Was there a ruling from Ren about her not being part of this? Sure, she had asked to be taken out of the group chat, but he at least considered her part of the team. “I always thought you were one of us. I mean, you’re totally one of us. Always have been. You helped us out big time with fightin’ Doc, and Ren says you helped him back at Niijima-san’s Palace. And you’ve been teaching him a bunch of cool stuff.”

Sumire blushed, giggling slightly. “Has… has he really been saying that? That’s… oh- focus Sumire!” She lightly smacked her cheeks. “Well, I came as soon as I heard, and then apparently the Kirijo Building blew up and demons are invading the city? I mean- not ‘apparently’ for the demons. That’s totally a thing that’s happening. But… is the Kirijo Building…”

“We didn’t blow it up.”

Sumire looked relieved. “You should go tell the news that. Everyone thinks that the Phantom Thieves did it as a big ‘last hurrah’. Some people are saying it’s an act of aggression due to the public starting to forget about them.”

Ryuji groaned, rubbing his temples. “Jeez. Thanks for letting me know, Violet. But, with that out of the way, why are you at this specific part of Tokyo?”

“Doctor Maruki got kidnapped.”

“Doc got WHAT?”

“Now you know how I felt!” She folded her arms, pacing. “Doc gave me a ride when I got off the train to Tokyo, but then the whole thing with the Kirijo Building and the demons happened, and suddenly I could kind of summon my Persona? Like- I can only summon Ella in short bursts, but it feels like it did in the Metaverse. Is that- how about you?”

“Same deal. I mean, I’d been training before, but ever since the demons came it’s definitely been… easier.”

“Good to know! Anyways, when we got out of the car, these demons attacked us and a few other random people, and so I jumped in to help, but Doctor Maruki was nervous about summoning his Persona because he didn’t want to go back to how he was. You know- Massive Power Fist-Slash-Tentacles Persona-user Hellbent On Re-Writing Reality? Oh, pardon the language.”

Ryuji grimaced. Even if they had to fight Doc, he wasn’t a bad guy. He could understand Maruki not wanting to summon his Persona and accidentally get caught up in his bad desires again. “...Yeah. So, that’s when Doc got kidnapped?”

“Yes. And I want to save him! But… if I may ask, what are you doing here, Skull-senpai?”

Ryuji shrugged. “Helping Niijima-san and some cool biker guy kill a demon.” He explained, simply. Sumire’s eyes lit up.

“You’re so cool, Skull-senpai!”

Ryuji legitimately gasped. He had never felt this way. Had someone younger than him actually treat him like he was cool. Was this… was this what it truly felt like to be a ‘Senpai’? He felt older already. More responsible. Of course, this newfound responsibility meant that there was no way in actual hell he was going to let Sumire fight Lilith. Not with the way Tatsuya had been hyping her up. “So… Sumire, maybe just stay back here and cover me? I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Sumire frowned. “I appreciate the sentiment, Skull-senpai, but I must decline. I want to at least save Doctor Maruki. Let me come along, please?” She bowed, deeply. Enough to make Ryuji feel a little bad.

“...Alright, but if things get bad and I say run, please run. Got it, Violet?”

She nodded excitedly. “Thank you, senpai! I’ll follow your instructions to the best of my ability!” 

He smiled, before wandering around the back of the building some more. He finally reached a fire-escape and pulled it down, as the two Phantom Thieves began climbing. “This has actually been smooth sailing so far.” He said, as they both climbed up the ladder and started jogging up some steps. “I mean, outside of the whole ‘Fomor’ thing, but it’s nice having someone look out for me. Plus, you’re pretty reliable. Like Ren.”

Sumire turned red. “I-I-I’m nothing like Ren-senpai, really! I just want to help people, I’m not really… cool, or noble, or really anything like him.”

“Sounds like something he’d say.” Ryuji’s brow furrowed. He had been distracting himself from the subject for a little bit, but he was worried about Ren. His best friend was tough, no doubt about it, but he hadn’t seen anything from him, Ann, Yusuke, or Haru. Not even Mona. And while he could at least kind of confirm Futaba was alive due to hearing her during the beginning of that weird ‘Izanagi’ situation, he wasn’t sure she was okay. “...This sucks, hardcore.” He mumbled to himself. Still, the best thing he could be was strong for the teammates that he had. “We can do this. We’ll beat Lilith, save more people, and the move onto the next big demon.”

The two of them became covered in a massive shadow as a giant, alien-like, multi-winged form landed on one of the rooftops above them. Bright, demonic yellow eyes glared at them. 

_”Hello, children. Why wait to go for the ‘next big demon’, when thou can go after I, Lord Satan, now? Surely thou want the honor of killing me, correct?”_ It rumbled. Ryuji’s eyes widened as he turned around, pushing Sumire.

“Runrunrunrun-” 

_I don’t think so.”_ It growled, before a massive block of ice blocked the fire escape. Ryuji and Sumire both screamed as several sets of large, bug-like arms snapped downward, grabbing them both.

...So, maybe he had called ‘smooth sailing’ a bit too soon.

* * *

“Get down to business? What are you playing at, Lilith?” Tatsuya asked, eyes narrowing. 

“Well, it’s simple, really. Let’s negotiate. You’re familiar with demon negotiation, Sun, let’s not act like barbarians and immediately go to blows.” She clapped her hands together as several human bodies dropped from the ceiling. All varying shades of pale, with lacerations and what looked like snake bites all across their bodies. They were still alive too, wriggling and writhing, unable to say anything or make any substantial moves as their mouths were heavily gagged and their limbs were tied up like pigs. “Look at all these beautiful humans. Plenty of prime cuts for meat, some would make wonderful lovers, and for the extra weird demon- well, what am I saying, what demon doesn’t want a real human skinsuit?” She chuckled darkly, as Tatsuya scowled. 

Sae pointed out a few in particular. She first pointed at a red-haired woman who was wholly unconscious and fairly emaciated. “That’s Kirijo-san. And that’s Shirogane-sama.” She pointed at a blue-haired woman next to her, who was somewhat lucid and attempting to struggle. “And… that’s Makoto’s old high-school counselor, I think…” She pointed at a third person, a man with shaggy, dark hair and broken glasses, who seemed to be the most awake out of the three.

“Ah, you’ve seen three you like? How about this, 100,000 macca, and I let them go? You walk out with them, we don’t fight, we’re all happy and alive in the end.” Lilith offered, her expression devious. 

Sae folded her arms. “We’re not negotiating with you. You’ll let them go, or we’ll kill you here and now. You’re outnumbered.” 

“Oh, yes,” Lilith ‘agreed’, flippantly. “Two against one. How unfair. Although… did our friend ‘Sun’ here tell you about the last time he brought a woman here to fight me?” Tatsuya’s heart began to race, the voices in his head getting louder.

_ **Don’t let her say it. Don’t let Niijima-san know what happened to Anna.** _

_ **Tacchi. Kill her. Kill her now. Grip her by the neck and strangle the life out of her before she ruins everything. Now. Now. NOW.** _

_ **It’s time to fight, Chinyan. Do it, Chinyan. If you kill her, rip her spine from her body, you’ll be forgiven by everyone. You’ll be forgiven, Chinyan. So DO IT.** _

Tatsuya gripped his head, a splitting pain filling every orifice of his mind. Lilith chuckled, as Sae gave him a concerned and frankly, terrified look. She grabbed him by the shoulder. “Tatsuya-san…” She was cut off as he violently wrenched away from her grasp, stumbling out of the chair and off to the side. He gripped at his head, yelling, as the back wall to Lilith’s office shattered open. He strained his neck to look, comprehending the massive form of the demon Satan as he brandished two limp, young bodies.

_”Lilith. I found these two snooping around. They’re like those other three. I think five is a suitable amount of ‘Persona-wielders’.”_ It rumbled. Lilith sighed, getting up, as Sae gasped.

“Sakamoto-kun? Yoshizawa-chan? Put them both down! They’re not a part of this!” She yelled. Tatsuya opened his mouth to say something, before the splitting headache returned with a vengeance, forcing him down to his feet. Jun’s voice snapped through his head.

_ **You’re WASTING TIME, Tacchi. Summon us. Summon us and let us murder her for you. Let us bleed her dry. You’ll love it. Call us. Use us. Now. Now. Now. Now.** _

Lilith folded her arms, ignoring Sae and Tatsuya’s panic. Their conversation almost muffled in the screaming cacophony of voices within Tatsuya’s mind. “They’re a bit young,” Lilith began.  
“But with enough coaxing and messing with their minds, we’ll make them into good little soldiers. Hang them up with the rest, and then leave.”

_”Leave? It seems as if the Sun is about to go berserk. Perhaps I should stay.”_

“I have a plan for that. You can just sit and watch the show then.” Tatsuya found himself dropping to the ground, still gripping his head, as he watched Lilith approach Sae out of the corner of his vision. “I hope you’re watching, Sun.” She said, as Sae summoned her Persona. Lilith grabbed the silver-haired woman by the neck, a pulse of pink energy emitting from her body before Sae could act. “Do you want to know what I did to Yoshizaka Anna, ‘Inanna’? As I’m sure our Sun told you over and over, my specialty of charm.”

“N...No…” Tatsuya slowly pushed himself up to his feet. He took a step towards her, grimacing.

Lilith grinned as Sae struggled in her grip, her Persona fading the longer the demon kept her stranglehold. “Well, once someone is under my charm, they have almost no way of escaping. And so, while our wonderful Sun can resist it, his allies can’t. And so he’s forced to kill them. Each and every one of them.” She turned towards Tatsuya. “What did you do to your little girlfriend again? I think you were forced to punch through her-”

“Stop it!” He yelled, as the bright form of Apollo Prime flickered behind him. It was unstable, writing and gripping it’s own face in agony. Lilith chuckled, before sending a pulse of bright energy through Sae and dropping her. Fear struck Tatsuya as his ally got up, her eyes glazed over with a pink hue, as both Sae and Inanna turned on her ally. 

“I will fight for Lady Lilith. Prepare to die, filth.” Sae said, her tone monotone and robotic.

_ **Now you can’t hold back Tacchan. You have to fight.** _

_ **Kill them both, kill Lilith, then Sae, and then slaughter Satan while you’re at it, Chinyan.** _

_ **Tacchi. Now is the time. Do you choose to live, or die?** _

Tatsuya closed his eyes. “I choose to live.” He mumbled, before another pain shot through his head. “...Apollo Prime… show your true colors…” He growled, as the jester-like form of his Persona roared, gripping at the mask adorning it’s face and ripping it off, flames spewing from it in a blood-like fashion. Three bursts of flame shot from Apollo, swirling in the air before taking vague forms. The first was a humanoid Persona, it’s face angular and metallic, and it’s body resembling the front of a motorcycle. It’s coloration was identical to Apollo’s, being a mix of reds, whites, and yellows. “...Nova Rhadamanthus. Please lend me the power that I was unable to give Eikichi, and the coldness of hell itself to swallow these demons.” He mumbled.

The second burst of flame took shape. This one was feminine, yet more robotic in nature. It’s head was covered in a puffy ‘mane’ of sorts, as were its waist and limbs. It was adorned with hearts, and had a pair of small, cute wings that flapped gently. It brandished a heart-shaped bow, pointing it at Lilith with a giggle. It’s colors were also similar to Apollo’s. Tatsuya slowly began to stand. “Nova Eros. Grant me the support that I was unable to give Lisa, and the power of the earth in order to obliterate my enemies.”

The third ball of flame finally took a humanoid shape as well. It’s torso was akin to a bell, a cross stamped across the front, and a head, neck, legs, and arms sprouting from it. It wore a golden helmet with two small jet turbines on the side. It’s feet seemed to be made of jet turbines as well, shooting out a burst of flame. It spun a golden staff around, before pointing it at Sae. This Persona, like the others, bore the same coloration as Apollo. Tatsuya stood up fully, cracking his knuckles. “...Nova Hermes. Help me carve the justice that I was unable to show to Jun, and the power of the skies in order to mangle these monsters before me.”

Lilith’s eyes widened. “...I know I’ve been waiting for this, but I’m getting a bit excited.” She glanced at Sae, before pointing at Tatsuya. “Go, my puppet. Kill him.”

“Understood.” Sae replied simply, before her and her Persona charged towards Tatsuya. 

Tatsuya stood his ground, three Personas hovering behind him, all circling above his head like a halo. He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “I’ll never be alone again. I’m not alone, with them. I’m sorry, Niijima-san, but you don’t stand a chance.” The three Personas shot forward, splitting off to fight both Sae and Lilith at the same time. Tatsuya sighed, folding his arms. The power to replicate the souls and Personas of those he held dear, the ability to distract him from his loneliness. 

That was Apollo Prime’s true power.


	20. Call of a Heretic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tamaki shows the Persona Gang around.

“What the fuck is a ‘Cathedral of Shadows’?” Kanji asked, looking dumbfounded around the room. Maya folded her arms, looking around the bloodied room with a mixture of fear and awe. She understood that ‘Devil Summoners’ were much different than Persona-users. The way they controlled demons was much more forceful and coercive than simply drawing manifestations of demons from the Sea of Souls like most Persona-users did. The dichotomy was simple enough. Persona-users saw demons and ‘personas’ as extensions of themselves. Devil Summoners saw them as weapons, tools to use and manipulate for the greater good. Still, Maya knew just as well that Tamaki understood that ‘demons weren’t that different than humans’, and seeing that this was how she treated them was… unsettling for the most part.

Her eyes darted around to the various cages. Demons that she would expect to be normally restless sat defeated, their eyes empty as it seemed like their very will to live had been sapped from their bodies. A worn-down Jack Frost turned to look at Maya. She gave it a friendly smile, mouthing the words ‘hee-ho’ at it. It finally smiled, getting up slightly in its cage and stumbling towards her, before its legs gave out with a sicking sloshing noise, more viscous, dark green blood pouring from a wound on its leg. She gasped, starting to walk towards it, before a robed man stepped in front of her, shotgun in hand. Like most of the humans in this compound, his face was covered, although his eyes were piercing- almost inhuman. She took a step back as Tamaki chuckled nervously.

“You know, I was expecting a more positive response. I guess I’ve just gotten so numb to everything, this may be unsettling. First of all, please don’t be too worried. Demons are meant to be fused- they enjoy fusing. Their wounds are healed when they do so as well. So, you know, they actually like this.” Her eyes glanced around the dim, candlelit chamber. “I said, you all actually enjoy this, right? You all can’t wait to be fused, right?” She said, the cheer in her voice sounding a lot more superficial. Several demons uttered out weak tones of agreement in various tongues. She clapped her hands together, smiling. “See? They just can’t wait their turn. We just have to rough them up a bit so that they don’t break free and kill all of us. I mean, you understand, right? They’re demons after all.”

Maya didn’t look back at Tamaki, staring at the robed man who still had his shotgun brandished at Maya. She heard footsteps behind her as Tamaki stood next to Maya, shooing the man off. “Come on, don’t threaten our guests. Maya is a friend. Now go. Actually- get us a Fairy and a Night class demon. We’re going to give them a little demonstration of the work we do here. Oh- make sure they’re weak ones. I’ll know if you fucked up, because we’ll either get a lovely Asparas or have to calm down a Ganesha- and you’ll be the one who’s going to have to do the calming.” She snapped her fingers, as the man nodded obediently and walked off without a second thought.

“Wow, Tammy. Seems like you know what you’re doing.” Maya said, politely. Tamaki chuckled, shaking her head.

“I’ve been doing demon fusion for a long, long time. Eventually you figure out which classes of demons make what.”

“I get that, but… don’t you think it’s a little inhumane?” Maya asked, tenatatively. Tamaki’s eyes seemed to narrow, her mouth briefly shifting into a scowl, before she calmed herself. She patted Maya on the back gently, shaking her head.

“I already told you. Demons enjoy this. And, even if they didn’t, they deserve it, don’t they? It’s survival of the fittest, and this humanity at its ‘fittest’.” She said, as gently as she could. Maya could tell that Tamaki was trying extremely hard not to scare her, which- while nice- was concerning in a whole other way. Maya understood that this place was basically the apocalypse, so Tamaki certainly had things rough and probably wasn’t in the best mental state, but she’d rather the other woman be honest about it rather than keep trying to poorly tip-toe around the issue, as if Tamaki didn’t want her to know about the horrors of the Other Side.

Eventually, one of Tamaki’s lackeys- they were basically lackeys at this point, which seemed even stranger since Tammy didn’t exactly seem like one to boss people around back home- eventually he returned with two cages. One of them holding a deflated-looking Pyro Jack, and the other holding a bloodied and beaten down Alp. Maya grimaced, looking between the two small, pathetic demons as they were thrown into the two glass tanks. Tamaki nudged Maya back to the rest of the group, who were all more than a little bit concerned, as Tamaki continued to explain.

“The Cathedral allows us to do a variety of fusions that aren’t even naturally possible between demons. Even a few taboo ones. That, and any demons we fuse become fully subservient. It’s a pretty good deal.” 

Haru raised her hand. “...Excuse me, Uchida-san, what do you mean by ‘taboo’?”

Tamaki didn’t answer, instead pointing to another one of the few robed men that were manning the ‘cathedral’. “Let’s get this started! Are the speakers working? Can you play the spooky organ music? If you can’t, that’s fine, but I really want to show off for our guests.” There was a nervous thumbs-up in response, which seemed to put Tamaki in a good mood. She pumped her fist, before a grainy noise began emitting from speakers that Maya hadn’t even noticed before. It was a haunting, vaguely organ-like melody. Vaguely organ-like meaning that while it had some of the qualities of an organ, it was clear that the noise was computer generated, and not extremely well. It grated on the ears, the speed picking up and slowing down at random intervals, as Tamaki stood with a content, excited smile on her face as she calmly gestured her arms to the music as if conducting it. 

The tanks that held the two demons seemed to fill with a faint blue liquid as the demons tried to scramble and get away, slowly becoming submerged. The Pyro Jack banged its flickering lantern against the glass, floating against the top of the tank as the liquid began to rise higher and higher. The Alp, after a few seconds of attempting to escape, simply seemed to… give up, letting itself be consumed by the liquid.

Tamaki clapped her hands together, grinning. “Demons are nothing more than the discarded dredges of humanity’s negativity. But humans- humans have made demons into something more. Into tools to build a better society. Each fusion, each demon…” She paused for a moment as the liquid finally caught up to Jack Frost, and Maya watched as the two demons seemed to be dissolving and flaying, flecks of their bodies being almost peeled away before being siphoned into the many tubes extruding from their tanks. “...This is humanity’s best chance at survival. If those demons want to throw us into a world of Chaos, then fine, we’ll gladly play by their rules! We’ll make better demons. Subservient demons. Demons that will take this horrible world by storm, and cause a true new world order!” The demons continued to cry in pain before their heads were finally dissolved away. The liquid seemed to spill into the middle platform, before the pentagram seemed to spark and shudder, the liquid hovering in the air and spinning. Tamaki held her arms outward, laughing.

“Welcome, my beautiful demon! I have borne you into this world, and you shall obey me and me alone! Rise, Apsaras!” She commanded, as the demon began to take form. The blue, normally delicate and carefree form of Apsaras dropped to the ground, its yellows eyes wide as it panted heavily. Blue hair that would normally be neatly tied was disheveled and hung limply from its head. The demon looked towards Tamaki with an expression that seemed to shift from fear, to anger, to a vague sense of acceptance as it closed its eyes.

_”...I am Yoma Apsaras. I am in your care.”_ It said, voice hoarse and ragged. Tamaki unholstered her COMP, before pressing a series of buttons, as the demon seemed to blink from thin air in a short burst of coding. Tamaki glanced at her device for a moment, before sighing. “It could have at least have inherited something useful. Well, nonetheless, that was demon fusion. What did you all think?”

Maya glanced back towards her group mates, all of them staring on with various shades of horror painted across their faces. 

“Yo, what the fuck?” Kanji asked, before Maya laughed nervously, stepping between the younger Persona-users and a slightly disappointed Tamaki. 

“It was certainly an… interesting demonstration, Tammy. I’ve never seen anything like it. I think most of us get new Personas from the Velvet Room, and that process is a bit more… serene, I would say. But, you know, just because it’s different doesn’t mean it’s bad, you know?” She said, as Tamaki seemed a bit more satisfied with that response. She folded her arms, nodding.

“...Right. I forgot Persona-users did things a bit differently. It’s… been a while since we’ve had one on site.” She bowed slightly. “If I upset you, I apologize. However, this is important. The fusion and creation of stronger demons is instrumental in saving what’s left of humanity. You see, the only way to exit is to activate a spell similar to the one Nyarlathotep used- the Grand Cross. While there’s technically a ‘portal’ from where you all most likely came from, there’s no telling what will happen if you just try to get back up there without some sort of magical element. Plus, I’ve spent like… at least a decade on this spell and you all dropping out of the sky and having that be the answer would be super reductive, in my opinion.”

Maya’s eyes widened. “Wait, you managed to fuse together a Grand Cross spell?” She glanced back at the others. “That was the spell that Nyarly used in order to send us… here.”

“I figured as such.” Yusuke mumbled. “But to fuse a… demon with such power… that seems incredibly dangerous.

“I agree.” Tamaki nodded. “But it’s not just that. I fused my own Nyarlathotep with a Grand Cross spell. Do you know how hard it is? Like, fusing a Vile demon isn’t exactly that wild, but fusing a Vile demon with a spell that takes at least 5 normal Persona-Users to pull off? I have spent… so much time down here doing fusion after fusions, sacrifice after sacrifice, begging and pleading for some sort of mutation.” Her eyes were wide, as she laughed tensely, running a hand through her hair. “I… I mean, at this point, I’ve probably ‘killed’ Nyarlathotep about several hundred times over. But I have it! I think. I mean, I’ve basically made an uber-charged Nyarlathotep that’s just been… sitting in my computer for months on end.”

Ann spoke up. “Um, if you have the spell, why are you waiting? Can’t you just use it and get everyone out right now?”

Tamaki seemed to glare at Ann. “You know- that’s what everyone else asks too! Day after day! And--” She shook her head, pinching the bridge of her nose. “No, no, I’m sorry. You wouldn’t have known that. Okayokayokay. Listen, summoning demons comes at a cost. You either need macca, or magnetite. Macca is the local currency, and considering we- humanity- are what some people would call the ‘lowest class citizens’, we’re not exactly rolling in the stuff. Magnetite is something entirely different though. Magnetite is the lifeblood of demons, in a sense. Demons need it to survive and keep their form. You see that gross, kind of green junk pouring from the demons in here? That’s liquid magnetite, and almost entirely unusable by me and my COMP.” She walked over to one of the bleeding demons, running her finger through the pooling ‘blood’, before holding it up to her device. Nothing happened. “See? Usually it just kind of… processes it. Or at least absorbs some from after demon encounters.”

“So, you need this ‘megamite’ stuff in order to summon a super demon and get everyone out of here? Where do we fit into this whole… thingy? That’s what I’m wondering. I mean- none of us are made of the stuff.” Chie noted, before looking around. “Wait, are we? Are you gonna siphon us?!” She dropped into a battle stance, as the rest of the Persona-users- save for Maya- did the same. Tamaki chuckled, shaking her head.

“It’s true that humans have a lot of magnetite. That’s why we’re so valuable to demons. They can sniff us out from miles away, eat us, and become incredibly strong. However, I’d rather not lose any more lives to this machine-” She gestured back at the ‘Cathedral’. “-so I’m not going to ‘siphon’ you. We have a plan on getting a lot of magnetite at once, but it requires a bit of travel- hence us needing your help. I can fuse as many demons as I want, my resources are limited and I’ll only be able to summon them for so long until I run out of magnetite and they’re forced to return to my COMP. You Persona-users are different though. It doesn’t cost anything to use your powers, and considering there’s…” She counted the group. “...six of you, which is plenty, you’ll be able to defend us while I’m able to effectively manage my magnetite and demon usage. We had a lot more… well, a couple more Persona-users, but Tatsuya left and the others…” She trailed off, her eyes darkening for a moment as she glanced towards her COMP, before sighing. She seemed to stare off silently for a few moments.

Maya took a step forward. “Um, Tammy?”

Tamaki looked up, stunned. “Oh- sorry, Maya. Like I was saying, having a few persona-users on our side will make our trip to the Central Beacon a lot easier.”

Haru blinked. “Isn’t that where Gabriel-chan told us to go?”

Maya nodded, pulling the lily that the angel had gifted her from her jacket pocket. “It seems like our goals are lining up. Although, she wanted us to ask her fellow archangels for help, using this lily as proof of our allyship.”

Tamaki seemed dubious for a moment. “...Hm. That’s strange. People have been reporting angel attacks lately, but maybe you are all special cases…” She paused for a moment, before smiling to herself softly. “...No, of course you are. Blessed by an Archangel… maybe those dreams were true after all.” 

“Dreams?” Yusuke asked. Tamaki nodded.

“I’ve been having these strange dreams for the past few years. It’s hard to put them, but they’re like… whisperings. Telling me what to do. How to do them. They’re the only reason I’ve been able to make this Cathedral, fuse this demon, and even know that you all were coming. I’ve… never been really religious. When you find yourself stumbling through a realm of demons hailing from every faith imaginable, the thought of a true ‘God’ is kind of hard to grasp, but at the same time…”

“You think you’re blessed.” Maya finished, with a slow nod. “And… we showed up in your dreams? Like, us specifically?”

“Yes. I have to admit, it was a bit jarring. Outside of those three looking like demons,” She pointed at Ann, Yusuke, and Haru, all of them in their Phantom Thief attire. “And the tall one being terrifying in his own right.” She pointed at Kanji. “I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Sure, the girl with the bowlcut wasn’t threatening, but they were all aligned with you. A woman that I knew for sure was dead. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. If you all were messiahs, or divine beings sent to finally finish us off.” She frowned slightly, looking at Maya. Tamaki’s eyes were tired, stressed, but every time Tamaki had looked at her, there was an underlying sense of hope. Filled with so much trust that only seemed to make Maya feel guilty, although she wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was just the thought of being given so much trust that she knew for a fact wasn’t even available. That she and the others had stumbled here by pure chance, and that they were nothing short of saving. “I… I don’t think I’m deserving of saving, but I’m putting a lot of hope that you’re here to save us, Maya. My messiah.” Tamaki said with a deep bow, her voice filled with such earnestness.

Maya felt her cheeks heat up. She clenched her fists. “Tammy… no, Tamaki, I promise that I’ll help you and the rest of these people get out of here. You have my word.”

Tamaki gave Maya a bright smile, something that she could only assume was a rarity in this place. “Thank you. You really are an angel, Amano Maya.” She clapped her hands together. “So, about the whole deal with the magnetite, just so we don’t lose the thread, I’ll ask you all to follow me.” She ushered the group out of the damp, bloody Cathedral up into the considerably less dark and bloody subway station that the rest of the humans were stationed in. 

And, this was another prime time for Maya to confirm the fact that all of them were basically wearing full facial masks outside of Tamaki. She tapped the other woman’s shoulder, as Tamaki turned around briefly. “Um, Tammy, can I ask you something?”

“Anything, Maya. What is it?”

“...Whaaat’s the deal with the face coverings? Is the air here bad or something?” Maya asked. Ann quickly walked next to them, nodding in agreement.

“I noticed it too. If the air is bad, shouldn’t we try to cover our mouths too?” The Phantom Thief asked, as Tamaki turned back around, sighing.

“It’s… nothing for you all to worry about. Just consider it an aesthetic thing. Besides…” They continued walking for a while, before Tamaki opened up another door, leading them to a fairly spacious room that seemed to have several telescopes. The ceiling seemed to be partially made of glass, allowing people to look outside. “Here is our observatory. We can’t see the stars, but it does help us keep an eye out for incoming demons, or changes in the terrain. We desperately needed it since those fog demons in 2011.”

Chie gasped. “Wait a sec, ‘fog demons’? Like, did they come from a T.V?”

“...Yes?”

Kanji and Chie exchanged glanced, before Chie gulped. “Uh, so you all experienced the same thing we did, except you all didn’t find a way into the T.V world, so none of you could stop it. That’s… rough. Although, isn’t the whole planet supposed to be taken over by the fog?”

Kanji rubbed his chin. “Maybe cuz the planet’s already screwed? So nobody noticed any real change except for a couple more demons?”

Tamaki shrugged. “Most likely. There was a demon, Izanami, who came to assert herself as one of the strongest demons. She… didn’t last very long. Lucifer called down some of his big boys, and they smited- smote? They obliterated her really quick. But, if you all know something about that, then maybe you have some idea about the Central Beacon?” She ushered them towards a set of telescopes, as Maya looked through. She squinted, adjusting it before pointing it in the direction Gabriel had pointed to. She first looked at the Temple of Shijima, still having angels flutter in and out, before lowering her gaze and focusing on the ‘Central Beacon’.

Looking closer, it seemed to take the form of a giant, robotic angel. It had a massive torso sprouting four mechanical wings, and several decrepit mechanical limbs sprouting from it’s back in various forms of disarray. It’s ‘legs’ seemed to be made of several hexagonal prisms, and partially buried in the ground. It’s torso, while sturdy, seemed to have several holes and panels ripped from it as demons seemed to crawl in and out of it like an infestation. The ‘connecting point’ between it and the Temple of Shijima was a robotic halo that seemed to slowly rotate.

Maya had never seen this thing in her life. She backed up, gesturing for someone else to take a go. “I got nothing.”

Haru wandered up to the telescope, looking through for a couple seconds, before gasping loudly.

“Yaldabaoth!” She squealed, as the two other Phantom Thieves seemed to jump backwards in shock, before scrambling over to the telescope and took turns peeking through. Yusuke took a step back, after looking through the scope, his eyes wide.

“...To think that the False God would make himself known here as well. Of course, it seems as though his machinations failed in this version of reality…” He said, taking off his mask. “I wonder why…”

“Maybe it’s because there isn’t a ‘Ren’ here for him to manipulate?” Ann thought. “Although, why not just pick another human to use for his goals…?”

Haru shook her head. “Yaldabaoth gained power through his form as the Holy Grail. He stole the hopes and desires from humans, and tried to force them into enslavement. Perhaps the humans here were less receptive of a ‘god’ like him, and therefore he wasn’t given as much power?”

“That explains things.” Tamaki said, resting her hands on her hips. “This thing- Yaldabaoth- showed up a couple of months ago. It claimed to be here to usher in a new world of order and control for both demons and humans. Of course, none of us really took the bait, and the demons hate words like ‘law’ and ‘order’, and since it announced itself as a God, Lucifer also tried to put the kabosh on him A.S.A.P. So, whatever power he was going to have, was basically moot from the beginning. Now it’s just… stuck here, every so often it makes a loud claim about being a savior to humanity, but it’s less threatening and more pathetic at this point. We don’t need to be saved by Gods. Especially if they’re ‘false gods’ like your Kitsune friend said.”

Haru sighed. “I feel a bit bad. To arrive in a world where you’re unwanted. I understand that Yaldabaoth was evil, and our enemy, but there’s a certain tragedy in regards to that.”

Ann shook her head. “Don’t feel bad for it, Haru. It was a stuck-up old man that wanted nothing but to manipulate everyone like a bunch of dolls.”

“I agree. Wasting our sympathies on it would be counterproductive. But, considering as it now stands as the Central Beacon to this realm, I’m assuming it has some importance to you, Uchida-san?”

Tamaki nodded. “Nice segue. Basically, as ‘weak’ as this False God is, it’s also brimming with magnetite. Both from the demons that go in and out from it, it being used as the new ‘lynchpin’ for the Temple of Shijima, and just a ton of latent, unused power that’s forced into being dormant. We find a way to the connecting point between Jalda-whatever and Shijima- that halo thingy- and I should be able to collect enough magnetite, summon my Nyarlathotep, cast our Grand Cross spell, and give the humans here a way home.” She nodded, excitedly. “So, that’s our destination. We’ll leave for it as soon as you all are ready. But… I’m sure you’re all tired. I’ll show you to a place you can rest.”

A few moments later, Tamaki had led them to a fairly… dingy looking room. Small too. But, considering the situation, the fact that she had found a personal room for them was nice enough. There were several sack-like objects on the floor- most likely makeshift sleeping bags. Tamaki nodded. “I’ll leave you all to your own devices. Sleep well.” She left them, as the Persona-users gathered around.

“So…” Kanji began. “We’re helpin’ these guys?”

“I don’t see why not.” Maya said. “What’s wrong with helping people?”

“Nothin’! It just… somethin’ is off. All those masked people, and she’s been havin’ prophetic dreams? Like, obviously she isn’t totally kooky since she knew we were comin’, but don’t you think that’s a little…”

“Suspicious?” Chie finished, laying back on her new burlap bed. “Yeah. I mean, evil or not, I think she might be being manipulated.”

Ann sighed. “That’s not totally out of the question, but do we know anyone who’s good at playing the long con? I mean- she says she’s been having these dreams for years- obviously if there is a god or demon messing with her, they’re investing a lot of time into this.”

Maya sighed. “...No use in stressing about it now. Get some rest, gang. You’ve all earned it.” She laid on her back, staring up at the dingy ceiling. The others got comfortable as well, the room growing silent for a moment before Maya’s eyes slowly closed as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

She awoke next to a shrine. She looked around, a slow sense of familiarity striking her. “...Alaya Shrine.” She mumbled to herself, sitting up and walking towards the building. “...This is a dream.”

_”How observant.”_ A voice called out from behind her. Even more familiar. Irritatingly so.

Maya groaned, rolling her eyes before turning around and finding herself face-to-face with her Shadow. “You know, I really don’t like you being in my head. Can’t Nyarly go send you somewhere else?”

_”I’m not here on behalf of Nyarlathotep, and I can’t get out of your head. One of the few negatives that comes with being ‘you’, I suppose.”_ The yellow-eyed woman sighed, before walking up to the Shrine and taking a seat on the steps. _”I’m not here to fight. Take a seat.”_ She patted a spot next to her. Maya raised an eyebrow suspiciously, before reluctantly sitting down next to the Shadow. 

“What do you want?”

_”You’re right about Tamaki being manipulated. And that is why I’ve come to ask you a favor.”_

“Wait, who’s manipulating Tammy? Do you know? Is it Nyarly?”

There was a brief pause, before the Shadow sighed. _”I… don’t know. I’m putting the pieces together myself. However, I know as much as you do, and the fact that Tamaki is being manipulated by some higher being is incredibly obvious.”_ She said, derisively. _”While your memories of the Other Side are foggy, I remember both timelines with incredible clarity. So, again, I’ve come to ask you a favor.”_

Maya frowned. “...I don’t think I’ll like it, but go ahead.”

_”Do not save these people.”_

“Cool. Favor denied.” Maya replied, getting up. “Now, how do I ‘un-dream’ myself?”

Shadow Maya groaned, shaking her head. _”Why are you so difficult? You don’t understand, Tamaki’s idea of the ‘Grand Cross’ is vastly different from the reality!”_

“Why should I believe you? You’re one of Nyarly’s little puppets that he dressed all cute to look like me, act like me- poorly, I might add- and for all I know, you’re just trying to trick me!”

_”It’s more complicated than that! Despite everything, I am you. And, despite not being the biggest fan of it, I understand where you’re coming from. But think. Try to remember, at least.”_

Maya scoffed. “Try to remember what, Ms. Impostor?”

_”That Nyarlathotep’s ‘Grand Cross’ isn’t a transportation spell, it’s a--”_

* * *

Ann woke up. Well, ‘woke up’ wasn’t exactly right. She had been pretending to be asleep as she waited for the others to fall asleep. She scooted over to Yusuke and Haru, nudging them both. “Psst, guys! Guys!”

“Five… more minutes… hhhnngh…” Yusuke mumbled, rolling over.

“No… Father… I get to be the pink Featherman… it’s my tutu...” Haru murmured. 

Ann slapped them both on the arm. The two of them jolted up, Ann quickly gesturing for them to both be quiet before she started whispering. “I need your help.”

Yusuke rubbed his eyes, yawning. “With what…?”

“I want to look around. There’s something weird going on, and I want to find out what.” She got up, looking around at all the sleeping adults, before tiptoeing toward the door. The other two Thieves reluctantly followed, as Ann slowly creaked the door open. “I… can’t shake the feeling that there’s something else happening here. I want to trust Uchida-san, really, but ever since she showed us that Cathedral of Shadows place, I’ve been super freaked out. So, I want to have a quick look around to make sure we’re not about to be like… skinned alive and used as suits.”

Haru stifled a yawn, sighing. “Well… I suppose that’s reasonable, Ann-chan. Let us be off.” 

The three of them slipped out of the room, before slowly and stealthily making their way across the dark hallways. Apparently, lights out really meant ‘lights out’, the only real sources of light coming from a couple dim light bulbs jury-rigged to various walls, and some light spilling out from underneath doors. The three thieves snuck around, before Ann stopped them, pointing at one of the masked people wandering the halls. He continued walking for a bit, before coughing.

“Ugh… damn thing gets so stuffy... guess the Boss won’t get too upset if I remove it for a bit…” The man mumbled, before slowly pulling off the face coverings that had most of his features obscured.

“...They really need better skin-care…” Haru whispered. 

The man looked… less than human. His eyes were surrounded by deep, dark circles, and his head was covered in irregular, pulsing veins. He yawned, opening his mouth wide to reveal row after row of insanely sharp teeth. He scratched his neck, before continuing forward.

“That’s weird.” Ann murmured. “Let’s follow him.” 

The three of them darted from shadow to shadow, before watching as the Irregular Man wandered into another room. They crept up to the door, listening intently.

“Gah- why aren’t you covering your face?” Tamaki’s voice. Ann’s brows furrowed. So, this was on purpose. 

“Sorry, Boss.. It gets really itchy.” The Irregular Man replied.

They heard Tamaki sigh. “What if one of our messiahs saw you? It could ruin everything!”

“Uh, that’s actually what I wanted to ask you about. What’re we plannin’ on doin’ with the ‘messiahs’? One’a the people that work in the Cathedral said you weren’t plannin’ on drainin’ them of their magnetite, or sellin’ them to Lucifer for some extra macca.”

“Wh- of course not!” Tamaki said, exasperated. “They’re our saviors. And they’re humans. I can’t do that to humans.”

The Irregular Man started to sound a bit irritated. “The hell makes ‘em so special? I was a human too, b’fore you fused me with a demon and made me a freak!”

The three Phantom Thieves exchanged glances. “So… that’s what she meant by ‘taboo’. She’s been fusing humans with demons…?” Ann whispered, somewhat worried.

“She did say that any demons she fused in the Cathedral become wholly subservient.” Yusuke noted. “Perhaps she forces the others to become demons so that they’re forced to listen to her, and have a lack of free will…”

“That’s horrible!” Haru whispered, gripping onto Yusuke’s tail.

“Shh,” Ann shushed. “They’re still talking.”

The Irregular Man sounded a lot more than irritated at this point. “And don’t even give me shit about them bein’ ‘Performa-wielders’ or whatever the fuck those freaks are called. Last time I checked, Katsuya was one’a them too, and you didn’t have no issues shovin’ him in that glass tube and breakin’ him down. Same with Serizawa. Y’know- that Maya chick is friends with her, right? The fuck are you gonna do when she finds out Serizawa is all tight and comfy in your little arm computer thingy?”

“I didn’t--” Tamaki sounded exasperated. “Get out. Get out, now.”

“Nah, I’m not goin’ anywh--”

“You’re a demon. You know what this COMP can do? It can store demons, summon demons, and it can _delete_ demons. Do you want to be deleted?” Tamaki asked, her voice chilling. “Now, keep your mouth shut, and your face covered. We need their help, and I’m not letting you fuck this up for me. Got it?”

“W-woah, n-no ma’am- I mean yes ma’am. Sorry, ma’am.” The Irregular Man stammered, his tune suddenly changing. He stumbled out the room, heading off without giving the Phantom Thieves a second thought. 

A few moments passed as the Phantom Thieves sat, wondering what to do. 

“We have to tell the others. Get out of here.” Haru said.

“I agree.” Yusuke murmured. “We’ll have to wake them up, posthaste. We don’t have time to waste.”

Ann nodded. “Yeah, and we have to tell Maya-sensei!”

The three of them heard someone clear their throat from behind, followed with the cock of a gun, as they slowly turned around to see Tamaki standing behind them, eyes glaring down at them. She held her gun-COMP in one hand, finger resting on the trigger as she pointed it at them. Her eyes were intense, as she clicked her tongue impatiently. 

“Tell. Maya. _What_?”


	21. Velvet Interlude III: Successor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Makoto and the Attendants search for Yu's lost soul.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I uploaded this earlier, but then deleted it because there was a small scene that I think kind of... shattered the overall tone of the chapter? So I got rid of it and patched it up a bit.

Makoto never really had a high opinion on living until he died.

That day he arrived at Tatsumi Port Island, he had thought he was at his emptiness. The only reason he hadn’t considered killing himself before was that it seemed like a hassle. That’s all life seemed to be. A hassle, where you got shoved from one place to the next until eventually, you died, or something. Either unexpectedly in a way you didn’t deserve, or got old and died in a way that technically you deserved, but it didn’t stop it from being painful. For most people, there were only two ways to die. Happily, or filled with regret.

He was given the ‘wonderful’ option of neither.

He was dead. He had died in Aigis’ arms, but at the same time, he knew he wasn’t. His eyes closed, and he found himself in a dream. Alone, drifting amongst the Sea of Souls, but at the same time, standing still. Stuck, but at the same time, free to go where he wanted. The inherent contradictions, the confusion that seemed to be plaguing him constantly, it made him realize that the silence of death was a gift, just as the blessing of life, because if someone was stuck between the two, then the only options left were to suffer. 

Time didn’t seem… real, in a sense, as he drifted in and out of lucidity. Seconds seemed like hours, hours seemed like minutes, and minutes seemed like years. It just… kept shifting forward, without any sort of regard or consistency. It was maddening, to the point where he felt himself growing more and more numb as time seemed to slip and stutter forward. And then, at some point, he realized that he wasn’t alone.

He was the gateway to Nyx. And for those years, Nyx grew closer and closer. Nyx whispered, dreamed, her thoughts phased with his. Some moments, they would be entirely in sync. Others, they would be completely separate. A few times, he couldn’t even tell. The thing was, his idea of Nyx from Ryoji, Ikutsuki, and those cult members didn’t seem… right. The longer he spent with Nyx, it became clear that The Fall was less a massive event that was orchestrated, and simply the collateral damage of Nyx finally freeing itself again. As his mind sloshed against Nyx’s, he realized that there wasn’t any malice. Nyx didn’t despise humanity. Nyx barely realized that humanity existed. All Nyx knew was that planet Earth was holding billions of creatures, with billions of minds, and each mind held a practically minuscule amount of Nyx’s psyche in the ideal of death. All Nyx wanted to be was complete, and she strained herself in order to reach the pieces of herself that had been plucked and torn from her mind, finding herself stopped time and time again.

As Nyx’s mind shifted against his, he realized just how much of a ‘mother goddess’ she was. The only moments he found comfort happened when they were in sync. The only times he could ‘sleep’. Rest his eyes and feel at peace for a few seconds, or minutes, or years, before waking up and finding himself roiling and lost again. 

But even still, there was no anger. Nyx knew he was the one thing keeping her from being whole, and yet comforted him. Knew that he was in a similar situation with her, and kept him close. She didn’t roar or try to shatter his mind, but simply accepted the situation as it wasn’t. She didn’t give up, but she didn’t tear him apart for her goals either. And… he thought it was fitting. Ryoji was an avatar of Nyx but was also a fair representation of what Nyx would be with human ideals. Attempting to be reasonable, yet set in their path. Simply wanting humanity to accept the fact that they would be gone, and to not take it personally. Nothing was personal. It was just nature. Nyx was a force of nature, as malevolent as an unruly lightning bolt that so happens to strike someone’s roof or a rainstorm that just so happens to roll in on a special occasion. 

All of this was to say that his opinion on ‘stopping’ Nyx was… mixed. Eight years ago, when he was with S.E.E.S, he knew where he stood. Nyx was evil, and they were good. Humanity was a victim, and Nyx was a reaper that only existed to steal their souls. He had seen the cults, the deaths at Tayama, and Ikutsuki’s hands. But those were their hands. The hands of humans who didn’t understand their role in the universe, and thought themselves better than the rest based on them having a minuscule amount of knowledge that hadn’t been common amongst the average person. 

Of course, it wasn’t fair to say that ‘humanity was evil’ either. He knew humanity wasn’t. S.E.E.S was probably the best example of that. They were high schoolers. Nine high schoolers and a dog, and they personally took on one of the biggest threats to society as a whole alone, knowing how slim their chances of winning were. Humanity was daring. Brave. Took things for granted, sure, but exceptional nonetheless. 

The truth, in Makoto’s opinion, was that there was no villain. Sometimes there wasn’t. Days didn’t play out like subpar episodes of Featherman, where the good guys fought for justice, and the bad guys monologued about bullshit until the heroes finally stopped them. So, in the case of there being no true villain, and the case that Nyx was inevitable in almost every sense of the word…

What point was there to stopping her? 

Nyx was going to come time and time again, and eventually, there was not going to be a way for humanity to ‘fight back’. The Fall was a part of nature, like the wind or the rain. And if humanity was meant to fall, destined to fall, then wouldn’t pushing it back cause only suffering for the newer generations? Sliding everyone after him and S.E.E.S under a proverbial guillotine. If they sealed Nyx again, she would just keep coming back, and he couldn’t keep sealing her away again time after time. Yet, at the same time, was destroying Nyx even possible?

He stared down at his hands. He hadn’t seen it… himself in a long time. Skin. Bones. At least, a close approximation. He knew he was cold. Anyone who rested a hand on his chest would notice the lack of a heartbeat and the rhythm of his breathing was only based on a habit that his body had gotten used to for seventeen years. Alive. He wasn’t alive. This form was one last gift from Nyx. Nyx was free and had given his soul enough to be free as well. Nyx was a mother goddess and took care of her children. 

“Makoto? Are you well? You’re looking a bit pale.” He heard Elizabeth say from a few feet in front of them. The three velvet siblings stared at him as they idly floated in the Sea of Souls alongside him. Their movements were natural, their bodies going with the natural flow of the eternal sea as if this was their purpose. He felt like an interloper. Every time he tried to move, it felt clunky like he didn’t belong. He opened his mouth to respond. It felt dry. His lips sticking slightly as they tried to part.

“I…”

Elizabeth chuckled. “I understand that’s just how you look now. I was trying to alleviate the tension. You’ve been still for a few moments, soliloquizing no doubt.”

“About what, I wonder…” Margaret muttered. Makoto hadn’t met any of Elizabeth’s siblings. He hadn’t even realized that she had siblings. But… he was a bit jealous of the guy that had Margaret as an attendant. While Elizabeth was filled with charm and personality, Margaret seemed to have an air of elegance and class. Then again, Elizabeth was one-of-a-kind. There was no replacing her, and… for as many antics as she put him through, she was special to him.

...Special. He had people that were special to him. The bonds he had worked on, as… stupidly cliche as it was, they were the reason he was still going strong. The reason for him to fight. Each teammate, as long as they held him in his heart, and they held him in theirs, was one more reason to push forward and stop Nyx. Death was inevitable but… they didn’t deserve to die. They deserved to live long, happy lives. Have experiences that he couldn’t. 

“You know, I had been noting to myself how different you were from my guest,” Theodore began. Makoto looked up, focusing on the white-haired man that had been floating in front of him. Theodore smiled, politely. “...But, that budding resolve in your eyes. It’s the same as hers. I think you’ve come to a conclusion, yes?”

“...Kinda.” Makoto replied, quietly. Elizabeth nodded, happily, before nudging Theodore.

“Although, what were you doing at my guest's place of rest? I’m sure there’s another massive, gilded door holding back another being of Death with another sad teenager attached to it?”

Theodore chuckled. “My guest is… at rest. I’ve taken the time to visit her, but… I don’t think she would have wanted me to spend so much of my time mourning just her. She has passed and made her decision. And, well, as much as her sacrifice means to me, the sacrifice your guest made is just as important. So, I just took the time to pay my respects there as well. Of course, that was when I found the door cracked, and Erebus awakened.”

“Erebus…” Makoto mumbled. That name was familiar, but he knew it only seemed to ring a bell due to his time with Nyx. Unlike Nyx, Erebus was actively malevolent. Made of malice. Born of hatred. Still, there was something that was bugging him. Mainly this ‘Theodore’ guy. “You’re… a lot like Elizabeth.” He said, not sure if the attendant would understand.

Luckily, it seemed like he did.

He nodded, folding his arms. “Elizabeth is my sibling, but also my counterpart. My hailing is from a timeline the same as yours, except for one minor difference.”

“You’re a cute, spunky schoolgirl instead of a dashing, ambivalent schoolboy.”

He… wasn’t sure how to react to that information. He looked blankly at the two of them, not sure if they were joking or not, but while Elizabeth had a smug smile across her face, Theodore seemed entirely serious. “...Sure.” He replied, dryly. “So, moving on.” He looked over at Margaret. “...What’s our plan now?”

The eldest sibling folded her hands behind her back. “We’re looking for what remains of Narukami Yu’s soul. He’s a Wild Card, much like yourself. However, due to the machinations of a higher power, his ‘Persona’ has begun to take over his physical body, turning him into a demon.”

That was a thing that could happen? Since when? 

“...Okay.”

Elizabeth pouted. “Makoto! Are you simply going to ignore the fact that you’re an adorable, energetic schoolgirl in another life? Think of the possibilities for banter to come along with that reveal alone. Oodles of exciting conversation! Maybe even a montage where we put you in a schoolgirl uniform and have Theodore compare you to your counterpart!” She whined. “Come on, play in the proverbial space with me here! This has the potential to be both wacky AND zany!”

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t care.”

Theodore laughed. Elizabeth groaned, curling into a ball and floating idly away from the rest of the group. Margaret sighed, before turning. “We’re on the right path, but a pure human soul within the Sea of Souls is rare. This realm is usually home to Personas and demons. Consider this, while it would be likely to find ‘Orpheus’ here as a representation of ‘you’, generally it would be impossible for us to find ‘Yuuki Makoto’.”

“...So, because this Yu guy’s Persona-half is taking over, they switched places?” 

“Precisely. So, we’ll need to get going. Waste any more time, and the remnants of his soul may be devoured by a demon, or become wholly lost to the Sea.” She began floating off in the opposite direction that Elizabeth was rolling off to, Theodore following behind Margaret with no hesitation. Makoto watched the rolling Elizabeth for a moment, before shrugging and heading off behind Margaret.

Floating through the Sea of Souls was like… incredibly boring. 

Sure there was some ‘majesty’ or ‘wonder’ to it all, but eventually, it just became a game of ‘hey I summoned that’ and ‘hey that wasn’t in my compendium’, and none of the demons really seemed that impressive when he could summon a decent amount of them without any real effort. Eventually, Elizabeth caught up, as they drifted, before the Sea suddenly shook. A massive amount of demons seemed to swipe past the four of them, paying them no mind as they spiraled away. Makoto felt a… power. A presence asserting itself, growing stronger. 

“Yu,” Margaret said, after a moment. “He only grows stronger. We’ll need to hurry.”

He stared at where the demons were heading off to. “...Where’re they headed?”

“Most likely somewhere they can manifest in the physical world. The boundaries between reality and the Sea are fading. Demons are actively joining what you would consider the real world. Things are bad. Now, can we keep moving?”

Another very eventful stint in the Sea of Souls later, Margaret stopped them, before flipping open her grimoire. “He’s here. Just… up ahead.” The four of them looked on ahead. The faint, ethereal form of a person seemed to be drifting aimlessly. 

The four of them drifted forward, as Makoto reached the limp, lifeless, ghostly form of Narukami Yu before the others. 

There was a sense of familiarity. Like he had seen him before, despite this very much being the first time they had ever met. That feeling… that innate bond. Was that the power of the Wild Card? An eternal brand that defined a special set of Persona-users? An innate feeling of protectiveness seemed to swell in him, as he watched his successor. He wondered- if he had survived the encounter with Nyx, would he have gotten a chance to meet Yu in a better time? Would they have gotten along? It was a bit of a fun thought, the idea of being a ‘senpai’ to another Wild Card. But, that’s all it could be. Just a thought. Looking down at Yu, the silver-haired man was just that, a man. Makoto looked perpetually seventeen, locked in his youth as a reminder that this body had faded away before he reached his prime. 

Part of him was jealous. Jealous of all the experiences that he could imagine that Yu had. All of the companions he made, the social links he forged, the ability to be a savior in his own right without any sacrifices.

Any sacrifices until now, anyway.

His cold hands held Narukami, as another wave of familiar resonance shot through him. It was fading. Quickly. There was no time to be petty, or jealous, or harp on what the ‘what if’s’ would be in a situation like this. The past had passed, and if there was one thing that he needed to do, it helped to make sure that the future was still viable. 

Still… he wished that they could have fought side-by-side. Maybe they had. Theodore had mentioned another timeline, perhaps there was a timeline where he and Narukami had fought side-by-side as allies. Or a timeline where they had clashed blades as rivals. Or… maybe Makoto’s passing was just one of the inevitable events in each and every timeline, and it didn’t matter who he was. What gender he was, what attitude he had, the concept of ‘Yuuki Makoto’ was slated to be locked away as a last resort to save the human race from death. His suffering was inevitable.

“Makoto? Is something wrong?” He heard Elizabeth ask, genuine worry in her voice. He stared down at Narukami for a moment longer, before shaking whatever negative thoughts that were plaguing him out of his head.

He drifted back to the attendants, as the soul of Yu continued to flicker, growing fainter and fainter. Makoto’s eyes widened, as Margaret sighed, taking the limp Wild Card from his arms and holding it in hers. She closed her eyes, focusing as Yu seemed to spark with faint blue energy. His eyes opened briefly, staring up at Margaret. 

_”...I… messed up.”_ He said, simply. His voice was nearly a whisper. _”Badly. I… I just wanted to help everyone…”_

“Narukami Yu, now isn’t the time to lose faith,” Margaret said, her voice authoritative, but the worry was still clearly there. “Just rest for now. You’ll be in control again soon enough, and truly help others again. Trust me.”

_”...Right. Thanks… Margaret… you’re always so… reliable...”_ His form seemed to flicker some more, before shrinking and condensing into a small ball of light. Margaret cupped it in her hands, before handing it to Makoto.

“You’ll need to deliver this to the possessed Narukami. The only thing holding this soul together is the pure force of Yu’s willpower and hope. If you weaken Izanagi enough, you should have a suitable opening to essentially ‘insert’ the remnants of Yu’s humanity. And then…”

Makoto took it in his hands. “...It’s up to him, right? Well, if he’s like me, I think he’s got a good chance.”

There was another massive rumble in the Sea of Souls as more demons seemed to flock and flutter in different directions. The ball of light in Makoto’s hands seemed to flicker. Margaret’s brow furrowed. 

“Our time is running low. If we dawdle, then Izanagi will lose the rest of his humanity, and the planet is doomed either from his demons or Nyx. If we can free Narukami, then our chances against Nyx may be increased.”

Elizabeth nodded. “What are we waiting for, then? Let us go!”

Makoto nodded, before the four of them seemed to shoot off in the vast Sea, their objective clear. Humanity was stuck between two massive threats, the world was close to crumbling, and everyone was depending on a Wild Card to save the day. Makoto chuckled slightly to himself.

What else was new?


	22. Chances

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Futaba tries to recover. Naoya and Yukino fight Izanagi.

“Okay. Okay. Don’t have a panic attack, Futaba. Deep breaths. Think about that fun ASMR video you listened to a couple of weeks ago. Think of the positives.”

The problem was- there weren’t many positives. In fact, a lot of the things that were happening were what you could define as ‘definite negatives’. Things had started out cool. Only a couple of days ago she was training to use her Persona in the real world, and then a couple of days after that she managed to meet the Real, Actual Feather Pink. Of course, immediately after that Ren got kidnapped, and then things suddenly took a turn for the worst, and right when they were about to save Ren they someone incurred the wrath of some super shithead Shadow named Nyarla-something, and then she found herself plummeting to the ground inside her Persona. 

You would think using your Persona to break your fall would be a good thing. It wasn’t. It sucked ass, because a Persona was essentially just an extension of your mind- or at least her’s was, and when you slam the physical manifestation of your thoughts into hard concrete at terminal velocity, you suddenly begin to feel like you want to die and that everything sucks, and that everything good in the world is fleeting and that you most definitely would rather have been knocked out cold and thrown into a coma, or even dead, instead of being partially awake and desperately trying to figure out if various parts of your body were just numb, or they were completely busted beyond repair. She winced as she tried to move, flexing various parts of her body to make sure they were still attached. Arms? Sore, but check. Neck? Also sore, but check. Legs? Check, but hurt like hell. Pain aside, as far as she could tell, she was still 100% Futaba. 

Minor victories were still victories.

She had been drifting in and out of consciousness. Lucid enough to sense some super Shadow coming in, but ended up passing out again after that. Which… wasn’t great. She was support- and she at least considered herself decently useful. A moment passed before it dawned on her just how dark it was inside Prometheus. And then another moment passed, and she realized her eyes were closed. She grimaced, trying to open her eyes, her left opening with relative ease, and her right stinging immensely 

“Prometheus. Body scan? Please?”

** _Of course. Several hairline fractures in the tibia and fibula regions of the leg. It can be assisted by a Healing Skill to ease the pain, but not to fuse the bone. No compound breaks noted. The skin around the right eye has been lacerated by several shards of glass. Most likely from your glasses shattering upon impact. Considering the velocity at which you impacted the ground, the fact that you’ve sustained only those injuries is just short of miraculous. However, mentally…_ **

“Let’s not talk about my growing anxiety, Prometheus, thanks.” She mumbled, forcing herself to shift from her prone, sprawled position in the orb-like Persona into something closer to sitting up. She grit her teeth, grasping for purchase as she felt her injured legs drag across the cold surface of Prometheus. “Okay...okayokayokay… let’s make like a tree and figure what the hell is going on. Run a scan pulse. How many players do we have left?”

** _Players referring to active Phantom Thieves? Or players referring to Persona-users as a whole?_ **

Futaba’s eyes narrowed a bit, as she shakily reached up to try and wipe some of the blood from the corner of her eye. “...I don’t like that question. But… both, I guess. Give me both.”

** _In regards to Phantom Thieves, the only two active within the city of Tokyo are Skull and Violet, according to collected data. Niijima Sae has awakened to the power of Persona as well. List her under viable Phantom Thieves?_ **

“She helped us out, right? Sure. Mark her under ‘honorary’. That aside, that’s only… 2 actual Phantom Thieves. How many of us are still...” She paused, not exactly sure if asking ‘who was alive’ was going to get her a fun answer. Then again, nothing was fun, the world was turning to hell, and she wanted to die just a little bit.

** _The locations of Noir, Queen, Panther, Inari, Mona, and Joker are currently unknown. Logic dictates--_ **

“Don’t.” She said, softly. She really didn’t want to think that the others died. They couldn’t be dead, right? Especially Ren. Ren was strong and could make it out of any situation he wanted without any trouble at all. He was smart, and powerful, and knew the right things to say at any time, and was never concerned about anything. “Run another scan for Ren.”

** _Running another scan for Joker. No signs found._ **

“You’re lying. M-maybe he’s just hiding? Waiting? Maybe he’s sneaking around looking for a way for us to win? He’s got to be around here somewhere, right? Tell me I’m right.”

** _If he was hiding, his location would still be visible to us. The Scan function doesn’t operate off of visual data alone. It responds to heat signatures, brain waves, energy, and--_ **

“I don’t need a crash course on how my Persona works!” Futaba snapped, her hands shaking. She found herself drawing her knees close to her chest, her whole body trembling. If Ren was gone… what was the point? What could she do? What could any of them do? It wasn’t like they were in the Metaverse. It wasn’t like they were actual Phantom Thieves. In the real world, they were just a bunch of kids who were in way over their heads. She felt tears starting to trickle down her cheeks, her vision getting blurry. “...Pr-Prometheus--”

** _Would you like me to scan for Sojiro as well?_ **

Her eyes widened. She hadn’t even thought about him. Shame washed through her body as she choked back a sob. She was an awful daughter. Sojiro had been there to support her time and time again, and now he was probably being eaten alive because she was careless. This was all her fault. If she had planned ahead- if she could have sensed the “...Is he dead too? Are you going to tell me Sojiro got eaten alive by a demon? That his guts are all over LeBlanc, or all over our house? I told him he should get a security system, you know. But it’s too expensive because he wastes so much money on me, and I--”

** _Sakura Sojiro is alive and well. He is currently still in Yongen-Jaya. Based on locational data, he is taking refuge in the Takemi Medical Clinic alongside other residents._ **

“Do you… mean it?” She wiped at her eyes, sniffing. Thank god. She didn't know what he'd do if he was gone. “H-he’s okay?”

** _The infestation of Shadows and Demons is slowly expanding. And luckily, Tokyo is a decently large city. However, his safety isn’t guaranteed. He will need help soon. As will the others._ **

“The police--”

** _Law enforcement is unable to fight effectively against the threat. Ever since that powerful shadow appeared near the fallen Kirijo building, all electronic signals have been jammed. Help is being delayed, and any help that is trickling in is being quickly dispatched due to a lack of being able to be briefed appropriately. Moving onto the second command, you asked me to scan for any living Persona-users in general, correct?_ **

She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “...Y...yeah. Can you do it?”

** _Several Persona-users found within the city of Tokyo:  
Sakamoto Ryuji, active.  
Yoshizawa Sumire, active.  
Niijima Sae, active.  
Takeba Yukari, unconscious.  
Kirijo Mitsuru, unconscious.  
Shirogane Naoto, inactive,  
Maruki Takuto, inactive.  
Several more Persona-users in a similar age group found unconscious as well. Pulling data from shared information with ‘Lucia-chan’ identifies them as Iori Junpei, Amada Ken, and Sanada Akihiko._ **

That was a pretty… well, hefty list. “Prometheus--”

** _Further Persona-users:  
Unidentified Man in a Red Featherman Outfit, active.  
Unidentified Man with Earring, active.  
Known Serial Killing Adachi Tohru, active.  
Businessman Nanjo Kei, deceased.  
Unidentified Woman One, active.  
Unidentified Woman Two, active. _ **

Okay. So a very hefty list. She cleared her throat. Well, if there were… at least that many people active, sitting around and doing nothing probably wouldn’t help much. “...You said they’re active, right? Can you get me a mental feed with them? Y’know, the Navigator Telepathy whatever? Actually- wait- before that, can you give me some data on that Super-Shadow I sensed? I think calling it a Super-Shadow is going to become redundant, fast.”

** _Data states that it is referring to itself as ‘Izanagi-no-Okami’. The creator god according to common Japanese mythos. It seems to hold command over electricity-based skills and has seemed to take over the form of a person in their mid-20’s as their vessel. Izanagi’s interference is what is causing a shutdown of Tokyo’s electronics, and the constant signal jamming._ **

“Oh.” That… didn’t seem good. Izanagi, shadow or not, was supposed to be one of the strongest primordial gods. She looked at her hands in silence for a moment, her mind racing. They needed help. There was no way that they were going to be able to fight a shadow like that on their own.

** _What will you do?_ **

That was a good question. She… wasn’t exactly sure what she could do. If most of her friends were possibly dead, and their leader was gone, then… she felt useless. But… she needed to have faith in them. They had spent so much time having faith in her, it would be an insult to them if she just reverted back to her sad, scared self all over again. “...No. They can’t be… I refuse to believe that they’re gone! I’m going to see Ren again, and I want to be the best Futaba I can be for him. What use am I if I can’t help anyone on my own? I’ll save this city! I’ll fight as hard as I can in my own way so that both Sojiro and Ren can be proud of me. So that I can be proud of myself!”

** _Resolve noted. Beginning evolution._ **

“Wait, wha?” The round exterior of Prometheus began to shift, change, and spin. She found herself floating, looking around confusedly as her Persona began to lift off the ground and glow. The shape seemed to change from a pure sphere to something more pyramid-like, as several screens and glowing panels made themselves available to her. She smiled, reaching over to touch one as it made a low humming sound. The walls seemed to shift from a pitch-black to a modern silver before it’s robotic voice made itself known once again.

** _Hello World. Updated system Stage2_Prometheus to Stage3_Al_Azif. New application unlocked. Ultimate_Support.EXE. Are you ready to begin? Initiating contact with active Persona-users that are in combat with your approval._ **

A holographic green-tinted screen appeared in front of her, displaying the options ‘Y’ and ‘N’. She pressed her finger against the Y, as another screen seemed to appear to her side, showing three adults in a helicopter. One weirdly attractive man with dark, purple-tinted, wild hair and an earring, one weirdly pretty woman with black, curly hair and an ostrich beanie, and one pretty cute woman with short brown hair, and a beauty mark. They seemed to be in the middle of some sort of argument. The attractive guy with the earring seemed to be making some sort of leader-like declaration. She smiled a bit. He reminded her a bit of Ren. Still, now came the really hard part. Initiating conversation with adults. She felt her anxiety coming back full force. What if she interrupted and they yelled at her? What if they didn’t want her help? What if--

No. She couldn’t think like that. She didn’t have time to worry about whether they wanted help, because the truth of the matter was that they needed help. Sometimes people needed to be helped, even if they didn’t think they wanted it. She looked around the pyramid-walls of her newly evolved Persona, before finding one holographic icon shaped like a microphone.

“Ooh, push-to-talk? Classy.” She cleared her throat, before pressing her finger down on the button. ”U-um, is n-n-now a good time for me to b-butt in? Y-you were having an Anime Moment, and I d-d-didn’t want to break the tension.”

The sudden confusion on the three adults she was looking at was… actually kind of hilarious. The man with the earring turned a full 360 degrees, before finally replying with a confused _“...Uh. Hello?”_

Okay. So, he said hello back. That meant that he wasn’t mad at her, right? She was pretty sure that’s what it meant. “It’s meeeee. Your inner womaaaaaan. S-sorry. Th-that wasn’t funny. O-okay. Here’s a little recap from me. The l-last thing I remember, I was f-falling off a building and things were exploding because of Nyarla-whatever. Bang crash, h-hit my head and like, 100% started having a panic attack. Felt a powerful S-shadow, decided to hang back, and have a panic attack while also slowly regaining my energy. I wish I did it faster though. L-like, a ton of people are dying, and not in a way where you can just pop a ‘Recarm’ and hope they s-stand back up. And… and...”

Why was she telling all of them this? She was oversharing. None of them asked for her life story. She was talking too much. She was messing up everything. She took her finger off the microphone icon as her heart raced. God, it sucked this wasn’t just a server that she could log out from. She couldn’t log out of this conversation. She was stuck and...

_”Please keep talking.”_ The brown-haired woman with the beauty mark said. Her voice was gentle. Kind. Like those people on those online meditation videos, except more genuine and not dragging things out to get more ad revenue. The woman with the curly hair made a remark about Futaba sounding too young to be the Earring Guy’s inner-woman or something, and that seemed to be enough to spark her to keep talking.

”First of all- I’m sixteen! Second of all, that was a joke, I’m actually just… well, around. Whatever crap Izanagi is pulling is definitely messing with my maps. Third of all, call me Fut-- call me Oracle. I’m a Phantom Thief.”

She had almost just dropped her real, actual name to a bunch of strangers. That was internet rule number one! Never reveal your real identity, or else you’ll get doxxed and swatted and probably arrested. It also just so happened to be rule number one of being a Phantom Thief too.

After some… uneventful banter regarding the Phantom Thief involvement, the curly-haired woman mentioned something about the Phantom Thieves being used as scapegoats for this whole thing. Which seemed… equally bad. The public seemed to be sitting on a nice 50/50 beforehand in regards to whether the Phantom Thieves were good or bad. If the internet was up, she would have checked the Phan-Site, but unfortunately, that didn’t seem like an option. Which… meant that things would be messy for her and her teammates afterward. If they managed to reach ‘afterward’, that is. Some banter later, and the three new Persona-users joined Actual Known Serial Killer Adachi Tohru on the battlefield. Sure, she only knew him from a True Crime Podcast, but like...

What was he doing there? Did they bring them there on purpose? Did he break out of prison? Should she call somebody?

Questions for later.

“Prome- wait, Al Azif, show me the battlefield.”

** _Strategy-based or Live Feed?_ **

“What the hell? I get options? Usually, I get like, just a feed of what’s going on. What’s the strategy one? Show me that? Gimme that one!”

Several green holographic tiles spun around her before settling and stacking in front of her. It shifted into a somewhat graphically downgraded model of the destroyed Kirijo Building area. Several chibi models of the Earring Guy, Curly Haired Lady, Beauty Mark Lady, and **Literal Murderer Adachi Tohru** lined themselves up on the battlefield, and a slightly more menacing model of Izanagi blinked onto the ‘board’ as well, with the words ‘BOSS’ written in massive letters. She felt her Persona begin to spin and move, making its way towards the battlefield, before a small model of Al Azif appeared on her 

“Woah, so this is like a 3-D Tactical Strategy setup? Like the Flaming Emblem games? Wait, no, this is Real-Time Strategy, so like StarBuild? DoBA? Tell me if I’m wrong. You know, everyone’s saying that the Flaming Emblem series is getting worse because of the waifubait, but honestly, that just makes it--”

** _Focus, Futaba._ **

“I’m just saying, the fanart got considerably better, and the fanfics got a lot spicier when they added the hot springs. Anyways, what’re the perks? What can I do? Gimme the deets.”

** _Strategy-based Support allows you to supply individual buffs and healing as you see fit, as well as send out specialized scans on specific targets, rather than having to make grand generalizations. Furthermore, it allows you to initiate an ‘All-Out Attack’ after a certain amount of time._ **

“...Is it wrong to love a Persona?”

** _Self-love is incredibly important._ **

“Good. Can you play some musi--” She was cut off as a screen popped up in front of her, showing a list of songs. “Oooohohoho. ‘Last Surprise’? It doesn’t really work without Ren… ‘Take Over’? Meh. Kind of overhyped. ‘Lone Prayer’? Is that one new? I’mma push it.” She pressed it.

_ ♪ Lived with buried memory ♪_

_ ♪ With fear-ridden self-consciousness ♪_

_♪ I'm just a lone pra~ayer ♪_

Oh. It was J-Pop. Neat. Or… since she lived in Japan, was it just ‘Pop’? Again, questions for later. Especially since there was no time to worry about semantics.

Now, she just needed to get into a prime Support position. And that meant figuring out what her allies and enemies were getting up to. Another set of screens appeared before her ‘board’. First things first, grab some data on the people she was helping. She tapped the chibi-model of Earring Guy, before tapping the microphone icon. “Hey, Earring Man?”

_“...Yeah?”_ Came a tentative reply. _“You are talking to me, right? This is kinda new.”_

“Really? Huh. Well, what’s your name, and if you see green glowies around you, that’s just me running a scan on all your affinities and stuff.”

_”...Alright. Uh, Toudou Naoya. My Persona is Amon-Ra, and do we have to do this in the middle of fighting?”_ There was a grunt, as Futaba watched his tiny avatar roll out of the way of a pre-rendered lightning bolt. Cute. _”Oh- shit- there’s the green glow whatever. Sweet. Can I focus on kicking ass now?”_

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” She took her finger off the microphone icon. “Awright, Azif. Give Mama the analysis.” The details flickered in front of her, with a full three-dimensional rendering of ‘Naoya’ for reference. Sweet.

** _Name: Toudou Naoya  
Persona: Amon-Ra, the Creator God of Egyptian Mythos  
Resists: Fire, Ice, Wind, Earth  
Drains: Nuclear  
Weak: Electricity, Gravity  
_ **

“...Wait, what are ‘gravity’ skills? Those sound awesome! Can I get-- No, no time to think about that. Focus, Futaba! Next person! Do the buff lady with the ostrich hat!” She clicked on another one of the icons. “Buffy!”

_”Huh? Wha? That’s not my name! It’s Yukino! Mayuzumi Yukino! And uh- what? What's goin' on? Is this an interview? I’m 38 years old, my Persona is Durga, and I’m an Aries.”_

“You’re 38? Jeez. Talk about good genes. Sojiro is 40-something but he looks a billion. I kinda just needed to know your Persona though. Azif, what’re Yukki’s stats?”

** _Name: Mayuzumi Yukino  
Persona: Durga, the mother goddess of war in Hindu Mythos.  
Resists: Curse  
Drains: Fire  
Reflects: Electricity  
Nulls: Nuclear, Bless  
Weak: Ice  
_ **

“Oh. Sweet affinities. Okay, two more, I guess. Let’s go to the nice lady, and save the actual killer for last.”

_”Is it my turn? Um, Sonomura Maki. I’m a… Gemini, I think? I’m... 5’2”... wait, did you need to know that? My Persona is Verdandi. I usually just heal.”_

“Thank you, Sonomura-sa~an! Great, gimme the scan results, Azif.”

** _Name: Sonomura Maki  
Persona: Verdandi, one of the three Norns in Nordic Mythos.  
Resists: Fire, Ice, Wind, Earth, Electricity, Nuclear, Gravity  
Drains: Bless  
Weak: Curse, Physical  
_ **

“Holy Mother of Resistances. Well, Sonomura-san, please stay on the back lines. We don’t have a ton of White Mages, and I’d rather you stick back and support with me then get absolutely wrecked by Izanagi. Does that sound good to you? I mean, I don’t wanna sound bossy or anything but--”

_”That’s perfectly reasonable, Oracle-chan. You have my support.”_

“God, you’re so nice. Alright… moving onto… actual, literal, supposed-to-be-imprisoned serial murderer Adachi Tohru.” She clicked on his icon. A dry, irritated voice crackled through the ‘speakers’ of her Persona.

_”Magatsu-Izanagi. That’s what you want, right? Quit bugging me so I can focus.”_

“Yeah ok thank you bye.” She moved on. She now technically had a conversation with a killer. Great. Awesome. Absolutely terrifying. “Azif?”

** _Name: ‘Actual-Literal-Murderer’ Adachi Tohru  
Persona: Magatsu-Izanagi, the corrupted form of one of the Creator Gods of Japanese Mythos.  
Resists: Gun  
Null: Bless, Curse  
Weak: Nuclear  
_ **

“Cool, cool, cool. Now, give me whatever intel you can on our brand new friend, Izanagi.” She clicked on his BOSS Icon, before her Persona starter to flicker slightly, and a crash of lightning struck it. Al Azif tumbled in the air for a moment as Futaba screamed before it finally corrected itself. Did he just direct-attack the support? Bosses weren’t supposed to hit the support. That wasn’t allowed. Foul play. Hacks. Banned for a whole year. “Ssssso, he has electricity. What else we got?”

** _No notable weaknesses. Resists almost all base elemental attacks._ **

Fuck. “...What does he not resist?”

** _Drains Electric-skills. Proficient in Almighty skills. Nulls Curse._ **

Double fuck. “So, does that mean it could Megido-bomb us whenever it feels like? Does it get tired? Are we working with the age-old plan of smacking it until it dies?”

** _Potentially. No. Most likely._ **

Okay. Sure. She rapidly began clicking various icons, dragging various symbols that represented different buffs and debuffs onto various parts of the screen. She communicated what she learned to her temporary team to the best of her ability. “Okay, so, Izanagi doesn’t have any real weaknesses and resists everything that isn’t almighty, so I think you’ve just gotta keep smacking him until he falls down.”

_”Eh. Works for me.”_ Yukino muttered.

_That was basically my plan anyways.”_ Naoya said, casually.

_”Anything else, Oracle-chan?”_ Maki asked.

“Avoid curse skills, and whatever you do, don’t shock it! Outside of that, try not to get shocked either, and I’m applying full buffs to the party to keep you guys active and juiced up. I’ll let you guys know about any changes that come up- or just like, call out to me. I can hear everything. Oracle, out.” She cut off communications for the time being, leaning forward as her fingers rapidly swiped across holographic screens, taking in and outputting inane amounts of data, before something hit her.

“Shit, this is a boss fight! I should have played ‘Rivers in the Desert’!”

* * *

It was weird to have someone ‘supporting’ the team, in Naoya’s. Usually, when it came to strategy, either he was the one guessing at what attacks to use, or Kei was. But, it was a pretty useful addition. Especially when ‘Oracle’ slammed him and the others with an insane amount of buffs all at once.

Man, new-age Persona-users had it easy.

He rolled out of the way of another lightning bolt, summoning Amon-Ra and sending out another flurry of flame. He’d have to wait a bit before trying to pop-off another Hieroglyphein. Sure, it was the only thing remotely ‘almighty’ he had in his repertoire, but it wasn’t exactly something he could spam, unlike Agidyne. Which, while this Izanagi guy apparently resisted anything that wasn’t almighty, eventually he’d make progress if he kept smacking the shit out of him with fire. Izanagi turned towards him, summoning a mighty blade and sending several large waves of electric energy towards him. He tensed himself- bracing his body for impact, before seeing the large, god-like form of Durga flash in front of him, watching in awe as the lighting went flying in several different directions. He looked over to the side at Yukino, who gave him a smug grin.

“What were you sayin’ before? ‘You two go, I stay, and I’ll see you on the other side’? Yeah, you’d be on that ‘other side’ real fuckin’ quick, Naorin.” She chided, as he rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, Yukki. Thanks for the save.” All things considered, he enjoyed being able to fight alongside his friends again. Even if it was in… less than favorable conditions. Call it selfishness, but being able to be part of a team again was incredibly satisfying. And being able to beat the shit out of the demon that killed Kei would just make things even more satisfying. He had never thought of himself as ‘revenge-driven’, but all of the tension and apprehension burning in his chest filled him with some sort of blind, righteous fury that he knew couldn’t be quelled by normal means. He yelled as he summoned his Persona once more, the furious, mummy-like form of Amon-Ra bursting forth before he shot out another Agidyne. Izanagi stumbled back, his toothy maw finally starting to dribble with darkened red blood. His eyes flashed, sparks shooting out of them as he stared down Naoya with anger.

_”I am attempting to save humanity, and yet you resist. Can’t you feel it? Doom is coming. Ruin is around the corner. Giving into your true selves- that is the only way you can be free. Why do you resist me?”_

“That’s a dumb question,” Naoya replied, brushing the hair from his eyes before taking a step back. “Here’s the deal, dipshit. No matter what happens, humanity usually has it covered. Because unlike you demons, we know how to adapt.” He spat, as Yukino blindsided Izanagi, as Durga’s many arms pummelled into the face of the demon. Blow after blow, strike after strike as rows of fists continued to pound into Izanagi’s face. Yukino let out a primal shout as Durga threw out one final punch, sending the demon flying backward closer to the massive, cavernous hole that used to hold the Kirijo Building. The demon hit the ground, groaning as it slowly tried to stand back up. ‘Oracle’ let out an excited cheer.

_”Woah! Looking cool, Yukino-san!”_

“Don’t get excited yet, kid,” Yukino muttered, backing up next to Naoya. “This poser of a God is nowhere near done yet. You got another one of those Hiero-whatever’s in you, Naorin?”

“I’ll try to summon enough energy for one more. After that, I think I’ll be riding off fire spells for a while.”

“Actually, Naoya. I have a plan.” The two adults turned around, watching as Maki jogged up behind them. “We simply need to take advantage of what we have. We’re basing our capabilities on the Personas we’re used to, but would you mind if you changed your Persona, Yukki?”

Yukino glanced between Naoya and Maki. Naoya shrugged. “Don’t look at me for help. ” Maki sighed, pulling Yukino off to the side and whispering in her ear for a couple of seconds. Naoya watched on, not… entirely sure why he was being kept out of this conversation, but watching Yukino’s expression go from mildly confused, to somewhat flustered, to very confused was a journey of its own. 

“Uh, Maki, y’sure you can’t do this? That’s not exactly a Persona I’ve got a favorable affinity with… this seems more like somethin’ you could try. Hell- make Naorin do it!” Yukino asked, nervously scratching the back of her neck.

“I have to act as support to you all. But… I suppose you’re right. A bad affinity may stop you from being able to summon at all.” She turned towards Naoya, clasping her hands together, intentionally trying to look as desperate as possible. He took a step back. While Maki was, admittedly, the most adorable woman he knew, she had to be scheming something. And… he wasn’t exactly sure he was going to be a fan of whatever she suggested.

“...What?” He asked.

“I want you to change your Persona, Naoya.” Maki pleaded, clasping her hands together. “I know this is a bit of a long-shot, but if he truly believes that he’s the God Izanagi, then perhaps this could work?”

Naoya glanced back over to Izanagi, who was slowly- and angrily- marching towards the group. It didn’t seem like he had a lot of time to protest. “Jeez- what do you want me to change it to?”

“Izanami.” Maki said, after a brief moment of hesitation. She braced herself for whatever rejection he was about to pose.

His brow furrowed. “Wait, what? You basically want me to play ‘wifey’ to tall, pale, and deadly over there? Not a chance, Maki.” He folded his arms. “Besides, I don’t even know if I’ve got that one in my stock… why can’t Yukki do it again?”

“Yukino might have trouble summoning a Persona of that Arcana! You won’t!” Maki huffed. “And besides, you know it doesn't work like that! You’ll just need to distract him long enough to talk him down! That, or at least lower his guard enough to land a decisive hit! I’m sure Yukki’s got the resources for her, or you have enough pull with Igor-san to ask for this one favor!”

“If I had enough pull with that old man, why not use it like- I dunno, summon my own Izanagi, or get some sorta buff for Amon-Ra?! Anything but summon this fuckin’ thing’s ex-beau!” He shot back.

“We’ve already got another Izanagi in the form of Adachi-san! Just do this, Naorin!” Yukino snapped. Naoya prepared another remark, before the crash of thunder nearly deafened them, and the flashing light of a thunderbolt shot towards them. There was a sudden gust of wind as the electricity faded, and the hunched, aggressive form of Magatsu-Izanagi hovered above them, as Adachi slowly approached the three of them, his eyes furious.

“Whatever the fuck you’re planning, how about you go ahead and do it already! I’m not going to carry you deadweights during this entire fight!” He hissed at the three of them. All eyes were on Naoya, as he sighed, rubbing his temples.

“Fine, fine. Yukki, Adachi, keep that prick distracted.” He fiddled with his earring. “Maki, keep up the support. Guess Naoya’s gotta carry the team once again, huh?” He stepped off to the side, as Yukino rolled her eyes as she and Adachi sprinted towards Izanagi, summoning their respective Personas. 

He sat off to the side, somewhat irritated at being benched for… this. But he’d manage. He closed his eyes, irritatedly whistling the haunting tune of the Velvet Room.

Hopefully, the cards were in their favor today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so much of this chapter is futaba fucking around and me having too much fun theorizing what it's like on the inside of a support persona


	23. Godslayer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rise gets to know Ren. Ren comes across a familiar face. Some Fiends are taken down and the body count rises.

The last thing Rise was expecting in what she could be described as a ‘cell from hell’ was to be addressed by her idol name. It wasn’t insulting or anything, but the mental whiplash from being thrown in a dusty, damp, disgusting cell and being called ‘Risette’ was incredibly intense. Enough of a hypothetical ‘slap in the face’ that she seemed to drop right back into ‘Risette’ mode entirely on accident, despite her emotions not aligning with the usual pep and cheer she had on stage at all. 

Her head snapped up from its slumped, dejected state as she actually looked over at the person who addressed her. “Yep, that’s me!” She said cheerfully, absolutely terrified. “Risette in the flesh!” Not for long, probably, considering what information her Persona was picking up. Things seemed… dire, intense, and awful. Kouzeon was adept at picking up and gathering data, even in a passive state, and just based on the conversations that these ‘Fiends’ were having all around this hellhole, it seemed like their lives were basically forfeit at this point. “Um, so… ‘Godslayer’, what’s your whole deal?” 

Godslayer. That was a word that the Fiends were tossing around a lot. Ever since more humans apparently fell in this place, they were trying to gather them up and figure out what to do with them. Apparently the ‘leader’ of these monsters was Actual, Literal Lucifer, and he wanted all of the humans dead. The Fiends wanted Lucifer dead, so they were scraping together whatever humans they could find in hopes of getting one that could kill Lucifer. Apparently there wasn’t much luck until this dude in black rolled around. Apparently they needed a ‘Godslayer’ and a ‘Goddess’, and lo’ and behold, they just grabbed up the two most impressive humans they found. Sure, they had good taste in Persona-users, but she wasn’t sure ‘good taste’ meant much when you were being prepared to be a ‘vessel’. 

The guy in black stared at her for a moment. “M...my deal?” She nodded. He seemed… shellshocked. Not about being tossed in the cell, he seemed to adapt to that absurdly quickly. Most of his nervousness seemed to come from talking to her. Of course, the reason was obvious.

Poor kid was star-struck. Cute.

“Yeah, your deal. Obviously you’re special if you’re slated to be the ‘Fiend’s Special Godslayer’, so what’s your deal?” She asked again, as he scratched his chin, adjusting the bird-like mask on his face. She was wondering about that costume too. If it was cosplay, it wasn’t from any show she was familiar with. But, then again, she wasn’t exactly deep in the otaku scene. Sure, she was asked to do a couple guest themes for shows like _Bishoujo Kaito_ and _Phoenix Ranger Featherman R_, but shows like that weren’t exactly in her wheelhouse. That was more Yosuke and Kanji’s sort of interest, and she was pretty sure Naoto was a fan of Featherman. Weirdly enough. 

“Right,” The kid in black replied, “Um, well, I ended up getting in a couple fights before I got here. I guess I caught the attention of these guys, and they threw me in prison to get fused with a demon in order to become their ‘Godslayer’, whatever it is. Honestly though, I’m planning on getting out of here. I’m not letting myself get used and manipulated anymore.” He said, with a respectable amount of resolve. He looked towards the locked door of the cell, staring outward with a determined expression. He kind of reminded her a bit about Yu.

Yu… she hoped he was alright. Then again, he was strong. Responsible. Reliable. He was probably leading the charge to fix everything right now. Worrying about him was like worrying if the sun was going to come up. He always had things under control. 

“Um, Risette? Do you mind if I get an autograph once we get out of here?” The kid asked, somewhat sheepishly. “I… I mean, I have a poster of you in my bedroom. Wait- is that weird?”

“We make merch for a reason. But…” She looked around. “Listen, if we can get ourselves out of here in one piece, I’ll give you concert tickets for life.”

His eyes widened a bit. “Are you serious…?”

She nodded. “We’ll need to make it out alive first. So… do you have a Persona?” She asked. It seemed like an obvious question, but it didn’t help to make sure. He nodded, before standing up, his white mask bursting into blue flame as it apparated off his face, and a large, hulking, menacing Persona flickering behind him. Rise took a step back in fear, before Himiko gave her an incredibly important update.

**Amamiya Ren. Persona: ‘Joker-Arsene’. Last noted battles: Matador, Aigis. Incredibly dangerous.**

This was bad. Apparently, she had just ended up in the cell with the same maniac kid that ripped Aigis apart. She found herself speechless as his Persona effortlessly ripped open the cell, before he seemed to practically vanish into the shadows. What was she supposed to do? Was he going to rip her to shreds as soon as she stopped being useful to him? Was the fact that she was an idol that he liked the only reason she still had her face attached?

After losing connection with Aigis, she had gone into total panic mode. She holed herself up in the abandoned building that Aigis had found for her, and basically sat and… waited either for help or to die. Himiko was weak, and all it was really good for outside of support was sending out sonar pulses to figure out what monsters were close, and what monsters didn’t even know she existed. And, considering it was a sound strategy for a bit until she picked up the Amamiya kid fighting a decently strong shadow, and then her sensors went haywire as another one made itself known and began playing a maddening song that she couldn’t react to fast enough. Next thing she knew, she was trapped in a cage and had to rely on Himiko’s information gathering to even get some idea about what was going to happen. 

So, finding herself in the same proximity as Aigis’ ‘killer’- she wasn’t sure if robots could be killed but it was wrong all the same- was pretty panic inducing. Still, maybe as long as she didn’t outright freak out, he’d leave her alone. She heard a tense whisper from the shadows, as she was barely able to make out his form within the darkness. These cells seemed to be in a state of perpetual dark, the bars and walls made from some sort of otherworldly, dense, cold metal. The only sources of light seemed to come from candelabra that lined the walls in a sparse fashion. She saw Amamiya staring at her, before making a quick gesture.

“This way, Risette-san.” 

She followed suit, the two of them beginning to sneak and shift through the hallways. He was much more adept at it than she was, seeming to practically teleport from shadow to shadow, the only indication of his movement a brief blur of black against the darkness. But, he still managed to wait for her to catch up before continuing forward, and occasionally giving her direction on what to do. Weirdly enough, she didn’t seem to sense any Fiends nearby. A few minutes of sneaking and shifting around later, she gestured for him to stop, asking the question that had been on her mind.

“You’re that Phantom Thief, right?” Amamiya Ren. That shaggy haired kid that the fake Kirijo was raving on and on about. It was hard to forget. Sure, he was in regular clothes when they… attempted to fight Nyarlathotep on the top of the Kirijo Building. 

He seemed surprised for a moment, before nodding. “Right… you were working with Kirijo-san… and you were there when...” He trailed off, looking downcast.

“Oh, yeah. Well, it wasn’t the real Kirijo-san, but my friends and I were tasked with keeping an eye on you.”

He nodded. “I met Kanji-san and Narukami-san. They helped me out. I guess, if they’re not around, I should at least say thank you to you in their place, right?”

Rise blinked. “Oh, I don’t think…” She trailed off. It didn’t take Himiko to realize that there was something off with this kid. He seemed… well, outside of dressing in black and acting a bit angsty, there was something bothering him. Weighing him down. His Persona wasn’t normal- it was warped and terrifying, and yet at the same time he didn’t seem to be as warped and terrifying as the being he summoned. She didn’t just want to brush off what he did to Aigis, but he didn’t seem to be some sort of sociopath like Adachi. “...Thanks. Yu is actually my boyfriend. And… well, Kanji is Kanji. He’s a good guy, though.”

Ren nodded in agreement. “You all helped me. For all you knew, I didn’t deserve it, and you helped me anyway. I don’t… get it.”

Rise shrugged. “That’s the kind of people we are, I guess. Your friends were a pretty big help too. Sure, we didn’t win, but…”

He looked at her somewhat surprised. “They… helped…?” He looked away, eyes narrowing. “That’s what I thought but… no… I don’t get it…” He shook his head. “Akechi told me… no, nevermind. Let’s keep going.”

Rise frowned as he continued to move, gently grabbing onto the hem of his coat. “Amamiya-kun. Right now, it’s just the two of us, and carrying around baggage isn’t exactly ideal in a survival situation. If you want to talk, then let’s spend some time working things out. After all, you can’t handle all of your problems alone.”

He firmly, yet gently removed her hand from his jacket. “I… I think I’m lost. But once we get out of here, I’m sure I’ll know what to do. Thank you, Risette-san.” 

Rise sighed as he continued on. Stubborn, quiet, and too focused on trying to be strong rather than admit he’s weak. Maybe he was a lot like Yu than she originally thought. The two of them inched around, before Himiko finally caught onto two more presences approaching the group. One of them is smaller but considerably more powerful than the other. She snapped her fingers, catching Ren’s attention. “We need to hide.”

He looked around, realizing that there wasn’t much to hide behind. The hallways were labyrinthine and relatively empty, the only real openings were doors that only lead to more cells and captured demons. He grabbed her by the wrist, mumbling an apology, before pulling her into one of the cell rooms. They both sat in silence as the two presences seemed to move closer, the only sound outside of the footsteps was a… sneeze?

A boyish voice groaned in hushed annoyance. “Stop that! There’s no use to sneaking around if you’re going to keep sniffling and sneezing at every turn. We got lucky enough already, but these Fiends are supposed to be dangerous.”

“Sorry, I can’t help it… I’m a-a-aaaaa-ACHOO!” A man’s voice tried to retort, before sneezing again. “I’m allergic to cats!”

“I’m not a cat!” The boyish voice snapped back.

“My allergies say otherwise!”

Ren and Rise exchanged glances. Clearly these two weren’t Fiends, and she was getting the feeling that they weren’t demons either. Ren slowly peaked out before his eyes widened in an expression between relief and shock. 

“Mona?”

Rise slowly looked out to see a small, cat-like creature. It had a black bandanna covering its face, and a yellow neckerchief. It had a tiny, adorable belt wrapped around its waist with several pouches. Next to the cat was a relatively tall man with a disheveled grey suit, brown hair and incredibly pronounced sideburns. The man adjusted cracked, red sunglasses as he and the cat-creature turned around. The cat’s expression mirrored Ren’s.

“Joker?”

Ren got up from his crouched position, starting to walk towards the cat. 

“Morgana!”

“Ren!”

The cat-creature leaped into Ren’s arms, the two of them embracing each other happily. He looked over at the disheveled looking man, putting ‘Morgana’ down and bowing slightly. “Suou-san. I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

‘Suou’ nodded. “I should be saying that to you. Although… the attire is new. When did you have time to change clothes, Amamiya-kun?”

The cat cleared its throat. “It probably has something to do with the realm we’re in. Considering this is a place where demons are roaming freely, it’s not too hard to think that the boundaries between this city and the Collective Unconsciousness are pretty slim. Hence why I’m as my normal, magnificent self, and not just a housecat. I’d say that this place is pretty similar to when the real world fused with Mementos.” Morgana explained, a smug smile on his face. He looked up at Ren, who nodded approvingly. Suou looked over Ren’s shoulder at Rise, who had been mainly waiting to see how this situation would pan out from a distance.

“Who’s your friend?” He asked. 

Ren turned to glance at Rise, before scratching the back of his head. “This is… um, Risette. She’s an idol. I’m helping her get out of here.” Ren gestured at the two newcomers. “Risette, this is Morgana, my cat, and this is Suou Katsuya. He works for the police, I think, and he also trained me and the other Phantom Thieves for a bit.”

Morgana huffed, hopping around irritatedly. “I am not a cat! Do not introduce me as such! Especially to such a lovely lady!” He whined, before putting his hands on his hips. “Forgive my friend here. I am Morgana, and it is an honor to meet you, Lady Risette.”

Rise put the pieces together immediately. “Oh, you’re his Teddie.”

Morgana blinked. “Wait, what does that mean?”

“Nothing, nevermind. It’s good to have more than just Amamiya-kun. No offense, but I’d take the odds of three Persona-users over just one anyday.”

Ren nodded. “That makes sense. Now, do you know a way out of here…? It kind of seemed like you guys were heading back from where Risette and I were planning on going.”

Katsuya sighed, shaking his head. “Funny, I was going to ask you both the same thing. This place is basically a labyrinth. All the halls look the same, and I could have sworn we were walking in circles for a bit. That, and the fact that we haven’t seen or heard any Fiends around, I feel like there’s something else going on here.”

“I noticed that too.” Rise groaned. “No fiends, and any shadow signals are weak and caged up like we were. It’s almost like…”

“This isn’t real.” Ren mumbled. “Or… at least this place isn’t. It’s like it’s some sort of… pocket dimension, or at least a place that’s entirely controlled by the Fiends. We can wander in as many circles as we want, and they can just watch us from a distance and laugh at us.”

_”Ding ding ding.”_ Came a haunting, childish voice from behind them. _”And it is very funny.”_

Rise and the others turned around, staring at a small girl in a light, blue dress. Cold, yellow eyes glared at them, as she wiped her hands against her dainty dress, smears of what seemed like blood and grime staining it. Ren folded his arms.

“Alice.”

_”Hello Mister Godslayer.”_

Katsuya raised his eyebrows. “What’s a… Godslayer? And what does it have to do with Amamiya-kun?”

Alice giggled. _”A Godslayer is a very, very special human that has been corrupted with demonic energy. All humans have the potential to be Godslayers, but they have to be chosen to begin their descent. I’m not entirely sure who chose you, but it has to be a very powerful chaotic demon. I can tell.”_

Morgana stepped forward. “I don’t know what you’re saying, but Joker isn’t some sort of demonic puppet. He’s human, and he’s the least corrupt person I know!”

_”Are you sure? You’ve been separated for a while.”_ She rocked back and forth, arms swinging loosely. _”The Godslayer is even having doubts about the legitimacy of his human bonds. Isn’t that right, Mister Godslayer?”_

All eyes focused on Ren. He furrowed his brow, but didn’t say anything. Morgana waddled over, tugging on his pant leg. “Joker… Ren… she’s lying, right?”

He sighed, drawing his knife. “Enough talking, Alice. What’s going on here, and how do we get out?”

She stuck her thumb in her mouth, giving the group an innocent look. _”I’unno, Mister Godslayer. Maybe you can just keep wandering around these halls until you and your friends die, and then we can just use your empty husks as vessels instead.”_

Rise scoffed. “Don’t you need us alive? If you wanted us dead, then you could have killed us by now.”

_”Tsk, tsk, tsk, pretty lady. Fusing a living human might get us a stronger result, bu~ut a dying human that still has a teensie bit of their human soul left works too.”_ She turned around, giggling. _”Buh-bye! I’ll see you-”_ The girl didn’t get close to finishing, as a knife shot through the back of her neck and out her mouth. She dropped to the ground, viscous blood dribbling from her mouth before she exploded in a mass of dark mist. Rise looked over at Ren, her eyes wide as he lowered his arm and casually walked over to the dusted remains of her body, picking up the bloodied knife. He looked over at the rest of them, his eyes narrowing. They seemed to glow a haunting red, his body practically radiating with an intimidating aura.

“I’m not planning on dying here.” He said, simply. “I refuse to be anyone’s puppet, or Godslayer, or whatever.” He looked downcast, before pocketing the knife. “It’s… it’s just a demon.” He muttered.

It seemed more like he was trying to convince himself than the others. Rise glanced over at Morgana- just to check and see if this was normal behavior for him. Based on the concerned expression on the cat, that didn’t seem to be the case. Morgana carefully stepped forward.

“Ren… what happened since we came here? Did you make a deal with some demon?”

“I didn’t make any sort of ‘pact’ or ‘deal’ or anything. I made a promise to myself that I was going to get out of here. Now, get off my case.” He began walking again, glancing over at Rise. He stopped shortly after he passed by her, turning around slightly. She felt his eyes starting to bore into her. The same nervous, yet stubborn gaze from before replaced with an oppressive intensity. “Can you scan for any sort of abnormalities?”

“Huh?”

“Invisible walls. Places where this place isn’t as ‘real’. The Fiends have to be getting in here somehow. Can you find out how?” He asked. 

“I… I can try.”

“Good. Alright, let’s keep moving.” He said, calmly, before walking off.

The other three stood for a few seconds longer, as Morgana nervously wrung his hands. “Ren…” He shook his head, before starting to follow behind, glancing back at Rise and Katsuya. “Well, what are we waiting for! Let’s get moving!”

* * *

Ren didn’t like the way they were staring at him. Like he was different. Changed. Someone to be feared. The same way all of the students at Shujin looked at him, or the way his parents looked at him when they made the decision to ship him off to Tokyo for being a pain. He felt so confused. He had been so happy to see Morgana again- and for good reason. His friends were close, but Morgana was someone who stuck through him through thick and thin. Both as a Phantom Thief, and whenever his daily life got troublesome. But… his mind kept thinking back to Akechi, and those confusing memories. He had been betrayed by his friends- at least… he thought he had been. But Risette mentioned something about his friends helping them fight Nyarlathotep, and Morgana seemed as sincere as ever. And Alice… it seemed almost as if his body acted on it’s own. He had thrown the knife without any real thought, watched as it struck the Fiend dead in the neck and killed it effortlessly. But… was he the one that did that? Did she have a point? At some point was he chosen, and then simply being pushed in some direction to do some other creature’s bidding?

**You are in control. Defeat the Fiends.**

That was right. He was the only one in control of his life. His destiny. And right now, his destiny was calling for him to defeat the Fiends. Alice was one down. He could kill the rest with ease. Matador managed to get the best of him at first, and David relied on his music. The Biker wasn’t anything special either. That… or he could just go to the source. Kill Mother Harlot or Daisoujou. He kept walking, before hearing Risette speak up behind him.

“Here. Look up.” She said, pointing to the ceiling. He looked up to see a rippling in the ceiling. None of them could reach it. “Something’s there.”

**Summon your Persona. Pull him down.**

“There’s something up there.” He summoned Joker-Arsene, watching as it reached up and gripped against something, before yanking down what seemed to be a massive, mechanical being. It crashed onto the ground, Ren narrowly dodging out of the way. While it seemed… metallic, it also seemed otherworldly. It’s body seemed to be made out of a massive engine, but humanoid, sterling silver legs seemed to jut out of the bottom, kicking wildly as it spasmed, pushing itself up to its feet. Three, mental, human faces writhed and roared at the four Persona-users. Ren drew his dagger.

_”OOUUUGGHH. ME CHEMTRAIL. YOU WITH ME. CHEMTRAIL DOMAIN.”_ It groaned, before stomping its… comparatively small legs. A spew of green smoke seemed to cover the entire group, causing them to cough and stumble around. Ren swung his dagger, but his body felt sluggish. He found himself losing his footing, slipping to the ground as his knife only grazed against the metallic body of the demon. 

“Amamiya-kun, please step back.” He heard Katsuya say, as the older man stepped in front of him. He seemed less affected by the smog that the demon was emitting. “I don’t have Hyperion any longer, but I can make a solid guess that this demon is going to try and inflict as much poison or nerve-based damage as possible. I’ll handle this.” He adjusted his glasses, pointing towards ‘Chemtrail’ as it writhed and continued to excrete more smoke. “Come, Helios!”

A blue light burst of Katsuya’s body, the smog seeming to dissipate for a moment as he summoned a much different Persona than the regal Hyperion. It was humanoid, dressed in a black and gold waistcoat with a high collar and jet-black suit pants. Frilly sleeves concealed sharpened, cat-like claws on pitch black hands. Its round head was a similar pitch black, with two glowing yellow cat-like eyes, and two small, silver horns that resembled ears. It bowed deeply, before flourishing its arms, letting loose a small ring of flame.

_”I am Helios, commander of the ancient sun’s chariot! I am the one that will violate the night, and end this unholy darkness!”_

Katsuya chuckled, resting his hands on his hips. “My Persona… it’s back to how it originally was. But that’s fine. After all, no matter what form a Persona takes, it’s strength is based on the user's resolve. And my resolve to escape here is as high as ever!”

_”NNNOOOOOGGHHH! ME CHEMTRAIL FIEND! FIEND STRONGER THAN HUMAN!”_ It screamed, before a rain of needles seemed to shoot wildly from the myriad of exhaust pipes that littered it’s body. Katsuya ducked out of the way, as Helios summoned a wall of flame, disintegrating the needles before they even reached the group. Ren watched in awe as Katsuya rushed forward, slamming into the metallic form of Chemtrail and knocking it backward. It roared again, shooting out a dark, purple smog. 

“Suou-san, watch out!” Risette yelled. “That’s poison!”

“I figured.” He replied, his Persona flashing in front of him, taking the brunt of the smog. Katsuya’s body shuddered for a moment, before he turned his head to the side and spat. “Luckily, I can take it.” He summoned Helios again, watching as the cat-like Persona’s claws seemed to burn with a violent flame as it scratched across one of Chemtrail’s faces. It’s face seemed to leak a dingy, disgusting liquid. Not the viscous, dark blood that seemed to come from demons, but something almost akin to sewer water spewed from it’s face. It sprayed into Helios, causing the Persona to dart backward with a hiss.

Katsuya grimaced as Chemtrail let out another spray of needles, Ren watching as they slammed into him directly. His body seemed to shudder and stiffen. 

“He’s paralyzed!” Morgana groaned, before running in. “I’ll help you, Suou-san!”

_”NO HELP! NOOOOOOOOO!”_ Chemtrail screamed, letting another burst of dark green fog loose in the hallways. Morgana seemed to lose his sense of balance, slamming to the ground and skidding forward a bit. 

“What…? What kind of technique…”

“It’s lowering our agility and attack power... “ Risette muttered. “Suou-san seems to be resisting it a bit, but I don’t know for how long.”

Ren grit his teeth, forcing himself up to his feet. He stepped forward, standing next to Suou-san. “Listen… one good Eigaon and this thing is a goner. I know it.”

Katsuya looked over at him, before shaking his head slowly. “Conserve your energy. I can handle this… ‘Fiend’. You might be younger, but I’ve got experience.” He seemed to glow with a faint pink energy, before the stiffness seemed to drop from his body. “Patra.” 

Katsuya charged forward again, summoning Helios to rend at another one of Chemtrail’s faces, slashing another one open. It spewed more water, disgusting liquid dribbling and coating the ground. The halls seemed to stink like a used bathroom, and Ren noticed that the walls seemed to be fading and shimmering. Maybe killing this demon was the key to getting out of here?

**Do not let this _adult_ steal your glory. You will be the one to kill Chemtrail.**

Right. He wasn’t just going to sit on the sidelines. He was the Leader of the Phantom Thieves! He was just as good of a Persona-user as Suou-san! He summoned his Persona as Katsuya prepared another wave of flame. Ren threw his hands forward, a wave of cursed energy shooting out. More than he had anticipated, and watched as it slammed into both Katsuya and Chemtrail. Katsuya screamed in pain, hitting the wall and slumping to the ground, as Chemtrail seemed to hardly be affected by the attack. It looked over at the unconscious Katsuya, before letting out an echoing laugh, hopping back and forth on its spindly legs.

_”HAAAGH HAAAAGH. CAT MAN DOWN. CHEMTRAIL WIN! CHEMTRAIL WIN!”_ It taunted, before charging towards Ren like a freight train, crashing against him and continuing to run forward, Ren holding on for dear life. He looked behind him, watching as a wall seemed to be coming closer and closer. If they both collided, he’d be dead. And if he wasn’t dead, he’d be incredibly hurt.

**Summon your Persona. End this.**

He knew how to end this. He summoned Joker-Arsene, and watched as it grasped it’s claws against one of Chemtrail’s. His Persona’s mouth seemed to spark with a dangerous, almighty energy, as it seemed to flash and glow at a chaotic rate. Ren felt the power welling up inside him as well, his eyes flashing red as he laughed, almost maniacally as Chemtrail continuing to barrel forward.

“Do it, Joker-Arsene! Obliterate him! Chaos Element!”

His Persona threw its head back, its demonic maw screeching with delight as it’s body exploded with almighty energy, the blast rocking Ren as he watched, the energy coalescing in the air and seeming to shoot and fill the many exhaust pipes that entered and exited the demons’ body. Chemtrail seemed to stop suddenly, its body shuddering as Ren casually hopped off of it. He walked closer to Chemtrail as it seemed almost frozen, save for a few, terrified spasms. 

_”WHAT… WHAT YOU DO TO CHEMTRAIL… WHY… WHY… WH-”_

Ren rolled his eyes, holding his arms up to cover his face as the demon didn’t get to finish, exploding with a mess of dark mist, a few pieces of shrapnel, and the same disgusting water it seemed to excrete. Ren slowly lowered his arms once the ‘fireworks’ ended, chuckling to himself. 

He walked back towards the group, watching as Morgana seemed to be casting a number of small healing spells on Katsuya. He turned towards Ren, huffing.

“What’d you do that for?! Suou-san was winning, and he asked us to stay out of it.”

Rise sighed. “He’s just unconcious. We’ll have to carry his body out of here until he wakes up.”

**Ignore them. They don't recognize your talent. They don't appreciate you.**

Ren scoffed. “I did in one move what he was going to struggle to do in ten. But, you know, you’re welcome.” The least Morgana could do was give him some credit. Besides, that technique he used was pretty damn impressive.

The walls seemed to shimmer and fade, before they found themselves in… another dark set of hallways. Dark, but things felt distinctly different. He started walking forward, not paying the others any mind as he eventually reached a door. He opened it, boldly, as it led into a large room. It was relatively empty, sparse of any real details except for a figure sitting in the center. A skeleton, dressed in robes that Ren could have guessed were once white, but as time passed on they seemed to turn a worn, dirtied yellow. It sat limply in the center of the room as he approached, not moving. Ren continued approaching, stopping in front of it. He recognized this demon, just like he recognized Mother Harlot, and the other ‘Fiends’.

“Daisoujou.”

It sat on the ground. It didn’t move. Ren scoffed. It was probably so old and empty that even moving was a hassle. That, or it was meditating. That was probably why they wanted to fuse it and Ren together. Give Daisoujou a newer, younger body.

**Kill it.**

Whatever, it wanted his body. It wanted to take Ren’s life. Mercy wasn’t an option. It wasn’t an option for any of these Fiends. He lifted up his foot, and slammed the heel of his shoe into the skeletal fiend’s forehead, watching as it crumbled under the pressure. Its skull was knocked off, clattering to the ground as it faded uneventfully into the same dark mist as its kin, leaving nothing but the dirtied robes.

He picked them off the ground, staring at them as a cursed flame seemed to flicker from his palm, setting the robes ablaze as they crumbled and burned away in his hands.

**You are much more than a ‘Godslayer’. You are the one who will bring reform to this world. That is the goal of a Phantom Thief, yes? To change the world?**

“Joker!”

He turned around, watching as Rise and Morgana jogged towards him.

**They’re afraid of you.**

“You’re afraid of me.” Ren replied, his hands unconsciously resting on his dagger. Morgana sighed, folding his arms.

“You’re not acting like yourself! Just tell us what’s wrong. Come on, now.”

**They’re going to betray you.**

Ren’s brow furrowed. “You’re going to betray me.” Morgana seemed shocked, the cat’s eyes darting to Ren’s hands, which had already drawn his blade.

“Ren… Ren! Tell me what’s wrong. We’re teammates- closer than teammates!”

**Do it. Consider this your first step towards true freedom.**

Ren’s body seemed to act on it’s own, throwing the knife with an effortless flick of the wrist as it shot forward. Morgana braced himself, before looking to the side and yelling with shock as it embedded itself within Rise’s throat. The idol let out a stunned gargle, blood beginning to pour from the wound as she dropped to her knees, eyes wide and hands desperately grasping at the blade. She dropped to the ground.

“You made the right choice, Joker.” A voice hissed from behind him. Ren turned around, staring at the cocky smirk of the Detective Prince.

“Where were you, Akechi?” He asked.

“Around. Searching for a way to get you out. A foolish attempt on my part. It seems you did perfectly well without me.” He pointed back towards the others, Ren slowly looking to see Morgana desperately casting spells over Rise’s body. “She was going to betray you anyway. You can’t trust anyone. Your bonds- they were just ways for stronger forces to take advantage of you. But you’re free now, Ren. Nobody is telling you what to do anymore. So. Finish this job, and then we can move on.”

Ren nodded, before watching Morgana slowly turn towards him. Morgana’s eyes were filled with anger. Shock. Terror. His little paws seemed to tremble, before he began to glow with a faint blue energy.

“Ren… I don’t know what happened to you… but something's wrong. The Ren I know wouldn't do something like this!" He tensed up. "I... I don’t want to fight.”

Ren’s eyes narrowed as the knife seemed to fade from Rise’s corpse, appearing in his hand. He slowly stepped into a battle stance, scowling. “It seems like you’re already planning on it.”

Morgana's ears seemed to droop slightly. “Yeah. I guess I was. The Phantom Thieves aren't killers. You should know that." He sighed, softly. "I… never thought it would have come to this, but it’s time for me to give you one last lesson on being a Phantom Thief. A lesson that comes from a friend, a fighter, and the hope of humanity.” 

Ren rolled his eyes. “Quit talking and summon your Persona. You were going to stab me in the back. Just like the others. I’m just ahead of the curve this time.”

Morgana scoffed. It was hollow though. “Heh. You? Ahead of me? In your dreams. Now, let’s get this started.” Morgana exploded with a bright blue wave of energy, the force of it enough to cause Ren to rock on his feet slightly, daring to lose his balance. A daring Persona hovered behind the cat, with teal skin and flowing blue hair. Massive, muscular arms hardly covered by a tight-fitting, white shirt. Slim, muscular legs seemed to be covered by what looked like jeans, as a massive belt with a glittering, silver buckle rested in front. Intense yellow eyes were somewhat obscured behind a black mask. Tattoos of various shapes and sizes littered whatever visible ‘skin’ was on the Persona. It drew a large, ornate blade, pointing it at Ren. Morgana smirked weakly, drawing his own scimitar.

“Come to me, **Diego**!”


	24. Knowledge and Power

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sae and Tatsuya fight. Sumire and Ryuji smack Satan. The party grows and learns.

Niijima Sae was a woman who enjoyed being in control. Having a solid grasp of her surroundings, actions, and being able to make accurate and well-informed predictions of what had happened will happen, and shouldn’t happen. That being said, her very organized, controlled worldview had first begun to crack once she met Amamiya Ren, and he somehow made her a participant in a conspiracy plot, introduced her to the concepts of ‘other worlds’ and ‘Personas’, all the while relaying it to her through the most casual retelling of the most convoluted story ever to exist. Of course, in the… short months following the events of what she considered ‘Amamiya Ren’s Bizarre Adventures’, she had found herself in a more reasonable state. Makoto was going off to college, her career as a defense attorney was going fairly well, and tensions had been low.

Of course, none of that mattered now, as she was currently in the throes of fighting her companions. Being charmed by Lilith was… interesting. It was like being in a dream, and while the most illogical parts of her mind were absolutely infatuated with the demoness- far too infatuated for her liking. The number of improper thoughts that raced through her head every time she caught a glimpse of the demon in the middle of combat was concerning, to say the least, and the forefront of whatever ‘rational’ thought she had was focused entirely on being entirely subservient.

Of course, there was enough ‘Sae’ left in control to let her know that something was drastically wrong. She remembered that Tatsuya was supposed to be on her side. She technically remembered that they had first come here to kill Lilith. But her body seemed to be acting on autopilot, being driven by some sort of pure, uncouth lust to satisfy whatever Lilith ended up ordering. 

And to be perfectly honest, who wouldn’t? Lilith was beautiful. Dark, perfect, silken hair… mysterious eyes the color of a brewing storm… a perfect figure that would leave any woman envious of… and...

_Damn it._

She kicked at Tatsuya’s head, watching as he narrowly ducked out of the way. One of his Personas swept by her, summoning a wall of stone that she quickly leaped over. She had spent years asserting herself as someone confident, with no time to waste concerning romance and putting all of her focus on bettering herself mentally, and this demon’s charm spell had reverted her to the mental capacities of a horny teenager, willing to jump through whatever asinine hoops the demon wanted her to jump through.

But… was it really _that_ bad?

An unconscious grimace tugged at her lips as she summoned her Persona, nuclear energy bursting forth in a myriad of directions. Normally, she would have mentally shamed herself from having that thought, but as she took a momentary breath, and caught Lilith nodding pleased at the situation from a safe distance, she felt her cheeks growing hotter and her heart beat faster. She looked over at Tatsuya, who she hadn’t even really… acknowledged. Sure, she had been trying to fight him for the past couple of minutes, but she hadn’t taken the moment to realize that his Persona had split apart and was essentially multitasking the entire fight.

For what it was worth, Tatsuya was a fairly solid fighter. He seemed to operate on more of a rushdown approach, with no real skill or substance. Entirely self-taught, and dependent on his Persona- or ‘Personas’- to cover whatever weak points he had. Sae’s body stayed staunch in its fighting stance, as an uncharacteristic grin found itself on her face. Sae had trained for years in the art of aikido, spending a ridiculous amount of time juggling self-defense skills and her studies. And the charm pushed her to use whatever skills she had to the fullest, without any sort of restraint when it came to causing damage to herself or Tatsuya. She sprinted forward, summoning her Persona as it shifted into a more vehicle-based mode. She hopped on it, spinning before the back tire of Inanna slammed into Tatsuya and knocked him against the wall before she revved the engine, the tire spinning at a ridiculous rate as it ground into his chest. He yelled in pain before his eyes flashed with a brief blue light. He seemed to entirely vanish from behind her as her eyes widened in confusion, before feeling a red-hot fist slam into her cheek, knocking her off her bike.

He stood off to the side, his fists lit ablaze as he scowled at her. Did he… teleport? What kind of abilities did he have? “Niijima-san! You can resist this! Focus!” He yelled.

Resist? Right… resist. They came to kill Lilith. She gripped at her head for a moment as she slowly pulled herself up to her feet. If they came here to kill Lilith… then… 

A brief moment of lucidity. She turned to face Lilith, raising her fists before the demoness blew a kiss at her, and she felt her body tense up. Why would they kill such a beautiful creature? She faced Tatsuya again, her eyes narrowing. She spoke, although even she hardly registered what she was saying. “Lady Lilith has graced me with new freedom. Either stand down, or I’ll rip you apart for her.” 

Tatsuya sighed before one of his Personas floated behind him. “Nova Rhadamanthus. Zandyne.” 

The Persona shot forward, before clapping its hands together, a wave of force slamming into her chest and knocking her off balance. Before she even hit the ground, she saw the Persona form it’s hand into a blade of ice and slashed across her leg. Blood splattered from the wound as she slammed to the ground, gasping heavily as she desperately tried to cover the bleeding with her hands. She looked over at Lilith, who shook her head disapprovingly.

“Come now, a strong woman like you shouldn’t let a technique like that be a setback. He’s nothing but a feral man. No greater than the ape of a jungle.” The demon smirked, resting her hands on her hips. “You’re much greater than an ape, Inanna. Or have I misjudged you?”

Sae forced herself to a standing position, summoning her Persona as she winced. “N...no, Lady Lilith. I’m not done yet. Mediarahan.” Inanna roared as it let out a bright burst of green light, covering everyone in the room. The demoness’ eyes widened before she looked around wildly. 

“Gghh-! You fool! Have more focus when you’re healing!” Lilith yelled as Sae looked around, somewhat confused, before realizing that while she had also returned herself to practically perfect fighting shape, her spell impacted much more than just her. The chained humans began to shake and rattle, reinvigorated. The two children within Satan’s grasp began to stir. Tatsuya and his Personas were practically overflowing with new energy.

And then the room erupted into chaos.

* * *

The last thing Sumire remembered, she and Ryuji-senpai were screaming before getting grabbed by a very large, very scary-looking demon. Or… was it a Shadow? Was there a difference? Her senpai probably knew. It was certainly a demonic-looking shadow, nonetheless. Of course, there seemed to be a pretty big gap between getting grabbed and waking up, because she found herself watching Niijima-san fighting a man in a red Featherman outfit in a room with tons and tons of humans chained to the ceiling. Writhing humans. Demonstrably unhappy-seeming humans. She looked around, before realizing that she couldn’t move and that she and Ryuji-senpai were still in the grips of the massive Shadow-Demon. Wait- the Shadow-Demon had a name. It had called itself… ‘Satan’?

Oh. Oh no.

She looked up towards the massive, almost alien-like face of the blue, monstrous demon, before glancing over at Ryuji-senpai, who was luckily about as awake as she was. He looked up at Satan, desperately seemed to hold back a scream, before mouthing something at Sumire. She didn’t get it. It seemed to be a decently long sentence, and he didn’t really move his lips enough for her to get a good read on what he meant.

“What?” She whispered. 

He repeated it. She got the word ‘Persona’, but that was about it. She gave him as much of a confused shrug as she could while in the grasp of a massive monster. He rolled his eyes, somewhat exasperated, before very slowly and mouthing one word this time, that was much easier to pick up.

“Showtime.”

Oooh. They hadn’t made a Showtime together yet, had they? She had only really made one with Ren-senpai, but doing a combo-attack with Ryuji-senpai would be so much fun! She nodded excitedly before he quietly counted down.

One…

Two…

“Three!” He yelled, before summoning his Persona. Seiten Taisei sparked with electrical power as it hovered in front of Satan, before quickly and suddenly swinging its staff at the demon’s face, knocking it backward. The grip on the two teenagers loosened as they jumped free, Sumire rolling on the ground before summoning her Persona, throwing her hands forward as the glistening, elegant form of Ella danced forth from the Sea of Souls, flipping backward as a way of light shot forward, striking and sizzling as it came into contact with the massive demon. 

Ryuji chuckled, holding out his hand for a high-five. “Great work, Sumi! Look at us, kickin’ ass!”

She excitedly returned the high-five. “Yes! We’re the best a-- um, butt-kickers! Thank you very much, senpai!”

The guy in the Featherman outfit, still in battle with Niijima-san, shouted at them. “If you two are done patting each other on the back, maybe some help?” He gestured towards another person. A beautiful lady with jet black hair and unsettling eyes. What seemed to be a Persona wielding a heart-themed bow and arrow shot towards her and fired a few arrows at her, the woman chuckling as she ducked out of the way of some, before grabbing another and flinging it effortlessly towards the Persona, watching with amusement as it struck true, causing it to roar in pain and flicker. The woman glanced back at where they had knocked away Satan, before chuckling.

“You kids really don’t think you’ve defeated Satan, do you?” She laughed, “Oh, nonono. You may have stunned him. Annoyed him. Tickled him. But I’ve seen power, and that’s not it.” 

Sumire pointed at the woman. “Um… well, you must be a bad guy, right ma’am! As Phantom Thieves, it’s our job to stop bad guys! R-right, Skull-senpai?” 

Ryuji cracked his knuckles. “You must be Lilith. Tatsuya-san doesn’t seem t’ like you that much and in my opinion? You kinda seem like a bitch. I mean- definitely kinda hot, but still a bitch. So, yeah, what Violet said!”

The woman- Lilith- rolled her eyes. “So earnest. So… excitable. I really do love teenagers. So pliable. So… _pliable_. I would charm one of you as I did to the woman with silver hair. Force you to give in to those primal, sexual urges--”

“What the eff? Gross.” Ryuji mumbled.

“...And tear each other apart simply to rest a hand on my body. But… I’m curious. Intrigued. Inanna will keep the Sun busy, and I’ll play with you kids. See how well you tangle with the big boys.” Lilith chuckled, before grasping at the chest of her business suit and ripped it away in one fluid motion, revealing… way too much than what Sumire deemed appropriate for a fight. Sumire squeaked, covering her eyes. Ryuji tried to look away but… was failing. 

She peeked, watching Lilith between her fingers. Her chest was covered a long snake tattoo that seemed to coil around her body. It began to pulse and stretch, writhing and roiling as it seemed to bubble and pull itself from Lilith’s skin. There was the sound of skin ripping and blood bursting as a real, massive snake shot from one of Lilith’s breasts and coiled around the woman, hissing violently as it’s forked tongue shot out into the air. The rest of her clothes began to rip and fall away as she grew larger, and her hair grew longer and more unkempt, parts of it almost seeming feathery and birdlike. Her eyes went from a daunting grey to a violent, lustful red, and her dark nails seemed to grow longer to the point where they resembled claws. Some of her fingers began to fuse, resulting in three-fingered hands that seemed to more resemble talons. Her bare feet did the same, to the point where she seemed to be standing on three-footed toes that seemed to mimic the feet of a velociraptor more so than any sort of humanoid being. Her mouth seemed to widen, becoming more snakelike as she ran a forked tongue across her lips and smiled, flashing an impressive set of sharpened teeth.

“Yoo…” Ryuji said, awed. “That definitely ain’t no normal Shadow… that’s some perverted shit…”

_”Perversion…? I should be insulted.”_ Lilith chuckled playfully, shaking her head. _”Perversion. Those who deem themselves as ‘Perverts’ have no real grasp of lust. They simply scramble for whatever can satisfy their depravity, dribbling, and slobbering like the dogs they are as they attempt to fill an unsatisfiable void. I, on the other hand...”_ She ran her hands across her body. _”I am a being of lust. Not just the empty, sexual fulfillment that plagues the minds of men, but the lust of knowledge. Of growth. Of expansion. I have eaten the Forbidden Fruit. Seen that what I wasn’t supposed to. And what was my punishment from that coward, **<s>YHVH</s>**? To become a demon? If the price of freedom is to lose the gift of humanity, then I would have sold myself a thousand times over. You understand me children, do you not? For you seek freedom as well.”_

“We don’t want nothin’ t’ do with your freedom, lady!” Ryuji yelled. “Or your long-winded ‘I’m not like other freaks’ spiel! A freak is a freak, and you’re lookin’ just as freaky as that bastard Kamoshida!”

Sumire rubbed her chin. “Wait… who’s… you said a name, and I don’t think I got it. You said you were punished by someone.” She wasn’t empathetic, but that seemed important. If there was some higher being that could punish and harm demons, then learning more about it 

Lilith smirked. _”Ah, girl. You seek knowledge as well? To repeat, I was punished by **<s>YHVH</s>**.”_

“You kinda just made a noise with your mouth that sounded like a record scratch. Can you spell it?” Ryuji asked, furrowing his brow.

_”No. I suppose one way to put it is what the ‘God’ of your universe is. To some, He is known as **<s>YHVH</s>**. To others, Brahman. To some, Kagutsuchi. A ‘Great Will’ that governs all, fractured, and manifesting differently among universes. Although, your Great Will is split… fractured. Torn between order and chaos. Life and death. This universe is imperfect, and when the fractured pieces of the Great Will recollect and realize its imperfection, this world shall be destroyed.”_

“Oh, shit. How do we know you’re tellin’ the truth?” Ryuji asked. He and Sumire exchanged glances before he subtly gestured his head toward the chained people. She nodded, before slowly sneaking off to the side as Lilith continued to talk and Niijima-san continued to brawl. 

_”I have eaten from the Forbidden Fruit, child. I have knowledge far, far beyond my boundaries. I know that you’ve also destroyed one of the pieces of the fragmented Will yourselves. The Demiurge. The False God, Yaldabaoth. In doing so, you’ve only caused more chaos and turmoil within the Universe.”_

Sumire summoned her Persona as quietly as possible, Ella’s legs swiftly slashing through some of the chains as she dropped down person after person, catching them one at a time. She motioned for each one to stay quiet, and while some of them nodded in understanding, a few seemed to either be unconscious or too delirious to even make more noise than the usual muffled groans they were already making. Ryuji kept Lilith distracted.

“Wait… so us killin’ Yalda-whatever…”

_”It let loose another aspect of your Great Will. The Crawling Chaos, Nyarlathotep. Your governing forces are in constant combat with each other. Not in the sense of angels and demons, but pure, unbridled infighting. It rips itself apart, vying for control, hope, happiness, anger, all at once. In an attempt to satisfy the myriad of complexities in your universe, it caused contradictions and stirred forth self-hatred.”_

Sumire ran over to a couple more bodies. A woman with short, blue-tinted hair seemed lucid enough to at least be making passive attempts to escape, so Sumire cut her down first. Upon closer inspection, it seemed as if her eyes were clouded with a dark, viscous liquid that was leaking down the sides of her face. While she seemed to acknowledge that she was no longer strung up, there was also the feeling that she couldn’t exactly… see. Sumire took the gag off the blue-haired woman’s mouth.

“My name is Shirogane Naoto. I… I hope you’re an ally. My gun is in my back pocket.”

“Wait- Shirogane Naoto? The first detective prince? I-I- my name- is u-um… Suu-s-s- Violet! I’m a big fan.”

Naoto seemed to nod slightly, before continuing without any real acknowledgment. “I should have been hung close to a woman named Kirijo Mitsuru. Based on how rejuvenated I feel, I can assume someone cast a healing spell, so Mitsuru-san should be feeling more lucid as well. She has red hair. It’s very hard to miss.”

Kirijo? Of the Kirijo Building? She looked up, seeing the limp, yet awake form of Dr. Maruki writhing slightly in his chains and next to him a slowly stirring, mature-looking woman with vibrant red hair. With one swift swipe of her Persona, they both fell to the ground as she hastily tried to undo their bindings as they both groaned groggily. Sumire glanced back over at Ryuji, who was still trying to keep Lilith occupied.

“Oh, yeah? Well, why ain’t your demon world all fucked up then?” He asked.

Lilith scoffed. _”The ‘Other Side’- I think that’s your term for it. The demons have taken to calling it ‘New Makai’, but that’s where I hail from. New Makai is a reality where Nyarlathotep focused all of this universe’s Great Will into the ideal of chaos by destroying whatever was left of hope and idealism. And… well, a world ruled by chaos does not need a higher power. So we destroyed our Great Will. And, as our demon realm expands into this one, we will destroy yours as well. Free of charge.”_ She ran her hands down her hips. _”You know, child. You should be grateful. Any aspect of the Great Will is oppressive. The freedom that comes with chaos- you and your friends embody it. The freedom of choice. Of expression. Isn’t that what you and your little friends fight for? Just a bunch of sneaky, little brats!”_ The demon turned around, laughing as she flung a massive burst of ice energy towards Sumire. 

Sumire braced herself as the chilling attack grew closer before there was a flash of light as the blast was intercepted. Sumire stared at the faint, flickering form of a Persona. It was humanoid, wearing an elegant blue dress that fluttered and shifted in the wind. It had a massive, spiked, gilded belt around its waist that seemed to be covered with ornate patterns and viscous, silver points. Its large shoulder pads seemed to be also made of the same ornate patterning and dangerous spikes, accompanied by a high, elegant collar with a fluttering, white neck scarf. On its pale face was a pointed, red mask that partially obscured two, empty- yet focused eyes. In one gracefully gloved hand it held a rapier, which it had used to block the incoming attack.

“Arte...misia…” Sumire heard a voice croak weakly. She turned towards the limp body of Mitsuru, who- while her eyes were still leaking the same dark fluid that Naoto’s were, and her body seemed weakened and emaciated, still seemed to be mustering enough strength to at least defend her from the time being. 

“K...Kirijo-san…?”

The red-haired woman slowly managed to push herself into a sitting position, as her Persona weakly floated behind her. “...No more… I won’t allow this any more…” Her Persona’s rapier extended into a whip, as it cracked menacingly in its hands. “I will… stand on my own two… feet…” She slowly got up, coughing. Her legs shook, as she dared to drop to the ground. Sumire quickly caught her, helping her balance.

“Kirijo-san, right? Maybe you shouldn’t… how can you even tell what’s going on?”

Her breathing was heavy and stilted, as it seemed like each word seemed to cause more and more strain on her body. “My… Persona… is equipped for support and combat. Focus your fire on… them…” She blindly pointed towards Sae. “She’s… charmed. I can… fix that.” Her Persona- ‘Artemisia’- snapped its whip towards Sae as a burst of pink energy shot from it. It struck Sae, as the silver-haired woman shuddered a bit, before stopping her assault on Tatsuya, and turned back to face Lilith, her eyes glowing a vibrant pink.

“Marin… Karin…” Kirijo muttered, before dropping to one knee.

Sumire’s eyes widened. “Did you just… counter-charm her? Is that even possible?” The pink glow seemed to fade from Sae’s face, as her eyes returned to normal. The Featherman guy walked up next to her, resting a hand on her shoulder.

“You back to normal, Niijima-san?” He asked. She blushed slightly, before shooting Lilith a vicious glare. 

“I am. Thank you, Tatsuya-san.” She replied, before summoning her Persona. Lilith’s eyes widened as she looked around. 

_”I… see. No matter, charms or not, I’m much more powerful than you!”_ She roared, her body exploding with an almighty force that sent the Persona-users flying. Or… would have, if they weren’t suddenly surrounded by a shimmering yellow force-field. 

“Shield of… Justice.” Shirogane muttered as the faint form of her Persona fluttered behind her.

_”Nngh- I’m only used to handling one or two of you apes! Why… why does this realm have so many of you ‘Persona-wielders’!”_

Tatsuya chuckled. “I’ve had so much trouble with you. I’ve had to fight you alone, time and time again. I thought I was strong. I forced myself to be strong. But I’ve realized something. Fighting with Lisa and Eikichi again… seeing Niijima-san and Sakamoto-kun fight… I see where I went wrong.” He clenched his fist, his three Personas swirling behind him. “What makes a Persona-user special is the bonds they make. I’ve been so lonely, for so long, but I managed to get by due to remembering the friends I had…” He looked longingly behind him, staring at the astral forms that seemed to return the gaze with forlorn, but happy expressions. “I know this won’t last. Fighting with you all. But I also know that I’m stronger because of it, and you’re nothing compared to us if we act as one, Lilith.”

The demon scoffed, nervously looking around. Ryuji summoned Seiten Taisen, grinning. Sae hopped on her Persona, revving the engine. Sumire summoned Ella, preparing a spell. 

_”Come on… that’s not true. Bonds? Friends? To hell with that! When you came here with your friend before, you ended up killing her in cold blood! You slaughtered Yoshizaka Anna, and nothing will change that fact! Do you think that these paragons would want to be friends with a murderer, Sun?!”_ The demon screeched, desperation starting to creep into her voice. 

Tatsuya sighed. “What I did to Anna… the mistakes I’ve made. I can’t take those back. But I have to look towards the future. Anna was under your control when we fought, and for a time I blamed us both for what happened. But… I think I can confidently say that Anna would have forgiven me by now. You… on the other hand…” His body seemed to erupt in flame, his eyes narrowing. 

“She’d want me to slaughter you.”

Ryuji chuckled. “Hear, hear! Time for a beatdown!” He sprinted in, Seiten Taisei smacking Lilith with its staff and firing a massive amount of electricity into the demon. Lilith gasped, reeling backward before Sumire flipped in, kicking the demon in the back of the head before following up the technique with a blast of blessed energy, causing the demon to scream and burn. Sae fired several bursts at the demon before Tatsuya lept in, striking her to the floor with a flaming fist. 

Lilith struggled to her feet, gasping as the snake wrapped around her shot out at Tatsuya. He gripped it by the neck, flames bursting from his hands as the snake screamed and struggled to escape his grip before he ripped the head off of it entirely with a spray of blackened blood. He used the decapitated scalp like a bat, swinging it towards Lilith and smacking her across the face.

“Let’s show you old-timers how a Phantom Thief ends things! Violet! A-O-A time!”

_”No… no!”_ She yelled, hands filling with frigid energy before several tendrils shot from the ground wrapping around her neck and limbs. They were black, but the tips seemed to be a dull gold, and soft, blue veins seemed to pulse rhythmically from within them. Sumire’s eyes widened as she looked behind her, staring at Maruki as he calmly held his hands forward. He gave Sumire a weak smile, nodding slightly.

“Do what you do best.” He said, calmly. She nodded, looking across at Ryuji before they both jumped at Lilith, the two of them striking from varying angles as the demon was stuck in place, prone to their assault. She screamed as they finished, the two Phantom Thieves sharing in a high-five before Ryuji rolled his eyes.

“She’s still not done? Yeesh. Talk about sturdy.”

Tatsuya stepped forward. “I’ll handle this.” He approached her slowly before there seemed to be a brief stutter in time and he appeared behind her, striking her heavily from the back of the head. Another stutter and he was in front of her, his knee slamming into her exposed chest. Another stutter. And then another. He seemed to practically teleport from place to place, each time landing a powerful strike, his blows becoming faster and his strikes becoming quicker. His body glowing with a righteous flurry before he appeared above her.

“Cross Fortune!” He yelled, as a violent gust of wind shot from his body, slamming her down onto the ground as a sigil resembling a clock was seared into her back. 

“Foamy Lover!” He screamed as the chunks of the ceiling seemed to crash and slam onto her back, causing the demon to cough up a violent torrent of black blood.

“Bloody Honeymoon!” He commanded, throwing his arms upward as she was trapped in a massive bubble that seemed to glow and shimmer with light. Her skin began to bubble and hiss as she floated upward before it popped with a bright and rapturous explosion.

“Now, to end this.” He said calmly, as Lilith dropped to the ground. He caught her by the neck, forcing her to look at him. “Look into my eyes. _Nova Kaiser._” The three Personas that seemed to circle him slowly began to fuse back into Apollo as it floated behind Lilith and pressed a hand to her back. Flames began to consume her. Not red hot, and not even the burning blue nuclear fire that Sae emitted. It was almost a bright white, shimmering and holy, as the flames danced and covered the demon’s body as she screamed before it was suddenly cut short. The flames subsided, showing that nothing remained. He lowered his hands, before suddenly and abruptly dropping to the ground, his Persona fading.

The air around them seemed to relax, as the building rumbled slightly.

“Tatsuya-san!” Sae yelled, running over to him. He slowly raised a hand, gesturing that he was okay.

“I’m fine… I just used a lot of energy. The… the domain is gone though, but I need to rest...” He looked up, before sighing. “And… that means I can’t keep supporting you anymore.” 

Sae blinked. “Wait, what do you…” She stumbled back, before suddenly collapsing on the ground as well. Ryuji scratched his chin.

“Riiight. The fatigue. Still, it seems like we’re good for now. Good work, everyone.” He sat down, sighing. “Holy fuckin’ shit.”

Sumire wandered over to the chained humans, starting to undo all of their bindings. Ryuji, after a moment of rest, got up, and began to help her. Eventually, after a couple of minutes, all of the humans captured by Lilith were free and people were either resting, making idle chatter as they tried to get a hold of the situation, or still recovering from the shock of everything.

* * *

The remaining Persona-users- namely Naoto, Mitsuru, Maruki, Ryuji, and Sumire sat huddled in a circle, while Tatsuya and Sae rested. After Ryuji gave his rundown of the situation- with Naoto adding in a few details that he either forgot or wasn’t aware of, Mitsuru folded her arms, letting out a hoarse sigh.

“If I was stronger… this wouldn’t have happened in the first place. And to think, I was actually hoping to recruit the Phantom Thieves…” She let out a wry, sharp chuckle that quickly turned into a coughing fit. Sumire rested a hand on the woman’s back, shaking her head.

“It seems like whatever it was that replaced you… had to be pretty strong. Especially if R- ah, Joker-senpai couldn’t handle it.” She reasoned.

Naoto sighed. “Still, it seems like things are… worse than bad.” She rubbed at her eyes, trying to wipe away the disgusting liquid that was blinding her, but for every ounce, she managed to scrape away, more seemed to manifest. “And I’m currently incapacitated. My casting capability is limited to vague, multi-target support spells, and Yamato Sumeragi isn’t equipped for that.”

Mitsuru nodded, speaking slowly. “While Artemisia’s support... abilities are giving me a vague ‘sonar’ on everyone... my own body is… too weak to engage in… any real combat…”

Doctor Maruki sighed, shaking his head. “If the Metaverse still existed, then maybe I’d be able to use my power to help you all. But… unfortunately, my abilities are a bit stunted at the moment.”

“Well, we can’t sit around feeling sorry for ourselves!” Sumire chirped, catching all of their attention. “Yes, things are rough, but we’re alive! People are alive! As long as we’re here, we can return their hope, and start to at least work on putting the world back to normal. I’ve seen a lot of scary things and had to fight so, so many scary monsters. But… as long as I had people by my side, I feel like I can face anything. So I’m not giving up!”

Naoto smiled softly. “Well said. That man- Tatsuya- mentioned that the strength of a Persona-user comes from their bonds. From being in a group. We draw strength from each other. Cover our own strengths and weaknesses. If we’re alone, then we lose that strength, and we lose. We lose to our enemies, and we lose ourselves.”

Ryuji chuckled. “I like you a helluva lot more than Akechi, ‘Miss Detective Prince’. Listen, I’m scared as hell. The world’s gone to shit, my friends are either scattered, missin’, or dead, and I really don’t want to know what’s happened to my mom. But Violet’s got a point. So… I’m in. I’m still fightin’.”

“How noble…” Mitsuru said, “I’m... happy to hear that the Persona-users of the future are just as idyllic as we were.” She turned her head towards the massive, broken window that leads to the outside world. “There’s still a massive reading out there.”

“Satan,” Sumire muttered. “He’s probably waiting for us to start leaving so he can have more space to kill us. He knows we can’t just wait here.”

“Then we won’t,” Sae said, fairly unexpectedly as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. “I’ve met that demon before. He spoke to me. He was interested to see how strong I’d become. So… we’ll show him. If being a Persona-user means accepting help, and strength through bonds, and whatever else… then I humbly ask for your help to help me be the best Persona-user I can be.”

“Of course, Niijima-san!” Sumire said with a nod. “We’ll help each other out. Let’s rest up in here, and then when we feel ready we can help these people escape, and take down Satan!”

“Satan… a biblical monster.” Naoto muttered. “And Lilith continued to speak about the forbidden fruit, knowledge, and Greater Wills. I can tell when people are lying, and… what she was saying was earnest. So either she believed it entirely, or we actually do exist in a greater multiverse governed by fractured gods.” 

Ryuji sighed. “Dammit. I was bankin’ on it being a bunch’a crap.”

“No time to worry about it now,” Sumire said, laying on her back. “Making it to tomorrow… that’s what’s important. Heck, maybe Satan knows something else?”

Sae chuckled. “I doubt Satan will be in a conversational mood, but I suppose it’s worth a try.”

Tatsuya, while still lying on the ground with his eyes closed, mumbled a response. “You can talk with any demon… how long just depends on how antsy they are to eat you…”

“Maybe we’ll catch him after lunch, then?” Sumire suggested. 

“I never would have thought we’d be discussing the logistics of a conversation with ‘Satan’ itself. This world of ‘Personas’ and ‘Shadows’… it’s so interesting. My research would have never prepared me for it.” Maruki nodded, chuckling. “Now, I do have a few good mental health exercises that might get us into fighting shape a bit faster, if you’re all willing to try them?”

“Oh, Doc is super good at this stuff!” Ryuji said, “He’s a real pro.”

Maruki chuckled, scratching the back of his head bashfully. “Well, it was my job for a bit. Thank you, Sakamoto-kun. Now, everyone. Legs crossed. Eyes closed. Relax your muscles and your thoughts. A positive mental attitude can take you a long way, so just keep the future in sight and remember that we have each other. We have our power. And we have our conviction. Now is our chance to actualize a positive future. Now, repeat after me. ‘It’s going to be okay’.”

The small circle of Persona-users did as told, relaxation tentatively filling their bodies as they took a deep breath, before pushing forward their own hopes for the future.

_”It’s going to be okay.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this fic between the scenes in 'Our Side' and the admittedly less hopeful scenes on the 'Other Side' definietely make it feel like I'm writing 2 fics at once. 
> 
> Honestly, I can't imagine what it's like to read.


	25. Callisto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tamaki attacks the Phantom Thieves. One of Tamaki's demons goes ballistic. Maya makes a choice.

If there was one thing that Tamaki had been forced to learn, it was that peace was fleeting, pain was inevitable, and the most that someone could do was push past it and become stronger. She had spent years pushing, and pushing, making the ‘best’ out of a demon-infested hellhole of a world because that’s what she did best. 

Uchida Tamaki didn’t let herself get bogged down by bad situations. When her school had been transported to the literal demon-realm, the first thing she had done was storm her way through the halls, and start fighting back with a baseball bat. When the Last Battalion invaded Sumaru City, and the Masked Circle tried to put their chokehold on society, she borrowed a COMP and fought back as best as she could. 

Because that’s what Devil Summoners did, right? They stared down demons and made them obey through sheer force of will and determination. Teenagers, armed with nothing but a computer program and vague premonitions, were sent out into the worst versions of the world and told to ‘fix it’. Make things right. Prove that humanity deserved to live another day. Prove to the demons that humans were more than just food. More than just walking bags of flesh and energy to consume and tear apart. 

She vividly remembered the day that the Earth stood still. The day when Nyarlathotep managed to win. She had been ushering people towards the Kuzunoha Detective Agency for safety, rapier in one hand, COMP in the other, and her demons in formation around her. Fighting with demons was an invigorating feeling. You could let loose wholly, entirely forget the fact that you were human in the first place as you barked orders and stabbed through monster after monster. The ‘Tamaki’ that faced the battlefield was an entirely different woman. A woman who could giggle at Cthulhu and emasculate Cu Chulainn. A woman who could force Tiamat to bow and keep Samael wrapped around her finger. Demons only understood power. Strength. Negotiations were a formality, but it didn’t matter how much shop you could talk, they wouldn’t even consider following you unless they knew that you had the strength to kill them if they went awry. If not, the best they might do was chuck some jewels your way with a scoff and ask you to try again later. The worst they would do was rend you asunder then and there.

She had tried to teach the art of Devil Summoning to a few others. It never worked out. Demons recognized strength, and the people of Sumaru City- ordinary, everyday people who hadn’t seen a demon in their lives- weren’t strong enough. She had started small. Ushered a few people towards Pixie dens (as far as demons went, Pixies and Jacks were two of the most agreeable species)- and just asked them to make small talk. It went well for a bit, before one day she came and had a bloodied scalp tossed her way. 

She had tried to negotiate with the growing, disparate demon ‘civilizations’. Thing was, demons were greedy. They wanted things like sacrifices. ‘At least one child a week’ they would suggest, as if it was totally reasonable, and find themselves terribly offended when she had the audacity to say no. 

She had tried to negotiate with the angels- the very beings that were supposed to protect humanity, and the most she was able to get from them was that they wouldn’t actively hunt humanity and ‘do what they could’ under the heel of Lucifer. Unfortunately, Lucifer didn’t have much leeway.

She had even managed to get an audience with the ‘Demon Lord’ himself. Purely because of her reputation as a Summoner- she had her demons spread some rumors and put in a couple good words for her. That entire interaction had been a blur. Lucifer never kept a stable form. One minute he could be a hulking beast of intimidating proportion with row after row of wings of vibrant plumage or bat-like leather. Some moments he could be an old man, hardly clinging onto life. The next he could be a young woman with energy to spare. Whatever threw her off the most. Whatever emphasized his point the most. She had remembered what he had told her, his voice soaked in the most condescending amount of ‘tolerance’ she had ever heard.

_”The demons have given humanity freedom against the Great Will. If you are not satisfied with this, then change the world yourself.”_

His voice had rung in her ears as she found herself stumbling and falling off the massive temple in the sky that he resided in. The next thing she had remembered was finding herself face-up, staring into the darkened sky with no real answers, and a civilization of humans that was nowhere closer to salvation. So… things fell stagnant. The goal of humanity wasn’t to excel, or ‘win’. It was to survive. Make it to tomorrow, and then the day after that.

Of course, that didn’t resonate too well with the ‘Persona-users’. 

She… envied those who had Personas. While being a Devil Summoner took guts and an ‘edge’ that allowed one to command demons without worrying about being ripped apart, Persona-users had a sense of will and resolve that she lacked. They weren’t just fighting for tomorrow, they were fighting for a _brighter_ tomorrow. Filled with a sense of optimism that she could only deem as naive, yet inspiring. 

Of course, now she was the only one left. Her, and Tatsuya, but in the sparse moments he had even made his presence known as of late, it seemed less like he was aiming for greener pastures and more so just running. Running from the struggles, the sins, running and finding himself in wave after wave of combat. Two of them. It wasn’t like their lineup had been entirely impressive before. Remaining members of the Masked Circle attempting to atone for their sins. Inexperienced Persona-users thrown into a situation far out of their league. She and her teacher had to share a COMP.

Not anymore though. A monkey's paw. Fewer resources to be shared, purely because fewer people were alive to share them with.

She looked down the barrel of her gun, eyes narrowing. Was this what her sensei would have wanted? Getting to work at the Kuzunoha Detective Agency offered her closure. Faced her with the reality that she wasn’t truly alone in her gifts. From what she knew, the Kuzunoha were a clan of honorable people, who did whatever they needed to do in order to usurp the demonic threats to the world and allow humanity to progress. But she wasn’t a Kuzunoha. If they were alive, she wouldn’t be the one facing this decision. Lucifer would be dead, the humans would be able to truly experience the sun again, and the demons would crawl back to whatever holes they came from.

This didn’t feel right. There was never a day in her life where the idea of killing a teenager went through her head. She had pulled guns on demons, forced them into submission, subjugated them like she had seen humanity be abused and subjugated, but when it came to threats against people- she knew she didn’t have the heart to follow through. Humanity was sparse. Precious. Having to kill these kids seemed like such an unnecessary extreme, but at the same time… she had banked so much of her time into her ‘Messiahs’ coming to save them. Maya most of all. She had been plagued by dreams. At first, she thought they were tricks from Lucifer, forcing her down a path that would ultimately end humanity, but each prophetic dream seemed to push humanity forward. Whether it was small things such as letting her know where weaker clusters of demons gathered, or bigger things like teaching her how to build and use the Cathedral of Shadows. Humanity had been making leaps and bounds forward, but that didn’t mean it came with its own share of sacrifices and consequences. And if... 

If Maya found out what she did… if Maya knew about the sins that built this crumbling civilization… then she’d lose her. It didn’t matter what reasons Tamaki for what she did, she didn’t want to risk that chance. Tamaki would lose her Messiah, and any chance for the freedoms of humanity would be crushed. 

She couldn’t let that happen. She had been fighting for eighteen years. Eighteen years of struggle, death, violence- and she wasn’t going to let it be torn apart by three teenagers in shoddy costumes. 

So, while murder wasn’t the ideal option, she was going to find some way to silence these kids. At the cost of their lives or not.

Who knew? Maybe she could turn them into demons as well. 

Her hand was tense, trembling ever-so-slightly as she aimed her Gun-COMP towards the three teenagers. Their faces were obscured by masks. It was hard to read their expressions. Were they apprehensive? Angered? Terrified? Three sets of darkened eyes stared back at her as her COMP began to click and shift, opening up, relaying the Demon Summoning Program that she had overly familiarized herself with, as the options presented themselves.

**HELIOS - LAW - MAG SMMN: 1560  
CALLISTO - NEUTRAL - MAG SMMN: 1610  
HEE-HO KUN - NEUTRAL - MAG SMMN: 269  
PIXIE - NEUTRAL - MAG SMMN: 32  
CERBERUS - NEUTRAL - MAG SMMN: 953  
NYARLATHOTEP - EX. CHAOS - MAG SMMN: 18000  
-CURRENT MAG: 3960**

This was the worst part about being a summoner. She’d have to count out how much Magnetite it would take to summon, and then have to mentally count out how many steps she could spare to move around, and have to mentally guess just how much it would take to actually summon Nyarlathotep when they got to Shijima and… “Ugh.” 

Logically, this would be a good time to stop, but these kids knew about her mistakes. The fact that she had to fuse people with demons- grant them new life and more power simply for survival. She couldn’t allow them to just run free with that information. She quickly made a decision, entering commands into her COMP with astonishing speed before several demons began to materialize around her.

“Sorry, kids, but I can’t let you ruin this for me. And, while I’m sure you’ve been used to fighting demons by now…”

Her COMP closed back up as she stepped into a battle stance, her eyes narrowing.

“My demons are a bit different.”

* * *

Ann really didn’t want to be the one that ‘called it’ on Uchida-san being an absolute maniac but like… it was kind of there ever since they found a human civilization in one of the worst places imaginable. The three Phantom Thieves jumped back as Tamaki suddenly inserted commands into her literal gun-computer, and it began to flash. 

“Hee-ho-kun!” Tamaki ordered as the chubby form of a Jack Frost appeared before the three teenagers. Well, it wasn’t dressed in the same attire. It seemed to be dressed in a dark green gakuran, accompanied by an incredibly charming cap. Before anyone could even emit a sound of either doting or confusion, it threw its arms forward, emitting a massive burst of freezing-cold air that sent the three Thieves spiraling backward before being slammed against a wall. Their bodies began to slowly glaze over with frost, as Tamaki’s Jack Frost began to hop around, giggling excitedly.

_”Hee-ho! That was an Extra Special Bu-ho-dyne, ho! You hee’s are goin’ down, ho!”_ It squeaked, as another demon began to form behind Tamaki. Unlike the cartoony looking Jack Frost, this one seemed much more human. Both in proportions and mannerisms. From the neck down, it looked like a woman in a green dress with a high collar. Her arms and hands were covered by long, white gloves- although the wrists and palms seemed to be tightly covered in what looked to be bandages. Its feet seemed to be melded into the shape of sharp, stiletto heels, and it’s entire torso seemed to be wrapped up in crisscrossing wire. That’s where the similarities to a human ended, however. Its face was empty and blank, only taking the visage of a cracked, shattered mirror. While her proportions were mainly humanoid, her height was a foot or two taller than average, and there seemed to be a bit of effort for it to stand up straight. Upon closer inspection, the wire around its body seemed to be the length of a whip, which the demon quickly unraveled and lashed towards the group wordlessly.

“Bind them, please.” Tamaki ordered- or, moreso asked, in a much more polite tone than she had taken with Jack Frost. The whip scratched across Ann’s chest, causing her to cry out in pain as the feminine demon whipped them again, the frost covering their bodies more and more as time passed. 

Ann grit her teeth, summoning her Persona in a burst of flame as Carmen danced forth, her flames melting the ice and dropping the three Phantom Thieves to the ground. 

“Callisto. Focus on the boy.” Tamaki said sternly, as the demon sent out another crack of her whip, the length wrapping around Yusuke’s neck and yanking him forward. The young man yelled before the heel of the demon slammed into his head. Knocking him out.

_”I’m sorry.”_ The demon murmured, solemnly. Ann got up, throwing another barrage of fireballs at the Jack Frost that had been dancing around the room, striking the smaller demon square in the chest and sending it tumbling through the air with a sharp howl. 

After a few moments of struggling, the Phantom Thieves found their stride, realizing that the demons- while able to act somewhat independently, usually had to wait for a direct command from Tamaki to do any real damage. So, they decided to skip the middleman and gang up on Tamaki instead. Ann rushed forward, reaching out for Tamaki before feeling one of the whips of ‘Callisto’ wrap around her wrist and yank her backward. Ann slammed against the ground, dragging for a moment before stopping with a jolt. Her mask clattered off her face as one of Callisto’s hands gripped around her neck, lifting her up. 

There was a moment where Ann stared face-to-face with the demon, as the girl squinted slightly, swearing that she could make out some reflection of a face in the cracked, mirror-like visage of the demon. There was a moment where while apparently the demon seemed to be neutral to the fight at best, the air seemed to grow tenser and tenser the longer they looked at each other. The demon stared at her for a moment, as Ann wriggled, trying to remove the hand from her neck. _”...s not fair…”_ The demon hissed.

“...What?” Ann managed to squeak out, as the demon roared, throwing her to the ground.

_”She’s… CUTE. It’s… not… FAIR!”_ Callisto roared, as the ground began to shake. Ann decided that the logical thing to do was to scoot back. Calisto didn’t share that opinion. One of the whips wrapped around Ann’s leg, grabbing the girl and flinging her upward, slamming her against the ceiling. _”Stupid… pigtails… stupid… hair dye… stupid… stupid… STUPID!”_ It ranted, yanking Ann back to the ground, hands shooting out with blinding speed as she gripped Ann by the neck again, the crack mirror-like pieces of its face beginning to spin and crack even further as it seemed to be bristling with rage.

_”What the hell? Do you think you’re BETTER than me?!”_ It screamed- bits and pieces of its speech garbled by a sound that seemed to be a mixture of a siren wailing, glassing shattering, and teeth grinding- all of which echoed off the walls of the darkened subway station as Calisto proceeded in slamming Ann’s head against the wall and dragging her face against the cold metal. Ann grimaced in a mixture of physical and mental pain. This seemed… incredibly personal, and apparently she just set off some kind of self-esteem time-bomb just by existing.

Oh, god. It was her first year at Shujin all over again.

Haru ran over, summoning her Persona to slam into Callisto, knocking the demon off to the side for a moment. It stumbled backward, as Tamaki was frantically pressing buttons on her computer.

“Wait, Callisto. Callisto, listen- what did you do to her? She’s not responding to my COMP!”

Ann felt herself drop to the ground, dizzily blinking as Yusuke ran over to her, kneeling.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“Not… really… did I say something to tick that demon off?” She squinted as she watched Callisto grab Haru, ripping off her hat and mask with… far too much intent. It let out an extremely aggravated sigh at the sight of Haru.

Yusuke frowned. “This all seems fairly out of nowhere, does this demon know you?”

“If it did, I think I’d remember it!” Ann got up, running toward Haru.

_”Fucking KILL me already!”_ She threw Haru like a baseball, the heiress being thrown into Ann and sending the two of them skidding backward. Callisto clapped her hands together, the ground splintering and erupting as shards of earth were flung towards the three Phantom Thieves. _”You think you’re FUCKING SPECIAL, you BITCH?! Think you can just scoop up whatever men you want because you dress like some skanky cosplay girls?! Fuck! I’ll KILL YOU!”_

Yusuke summoned Goemon, his Persona hastily blocking the shards of metal and rock being flung towards them. He turned towards his two teammates, his brow furrowing slightly. “...Women continue to be an enigma to me.” He mumbled.

“Why does this have to be a woman thing? Why can’t it just be an insane demon thing?” Ann snapped back, ducking as another wave of stone rushed towards them.

“Ah… this doesn’t seem normal though… Do you think this has anything to do with the conversation we eavesdropped on?” Haru asked.

Callisto continued to scream, the entirety of the station shaking in a blind rage. Tamaki fell to the ground, her eyes widening as she continued to try to return the demon. Her expression was that of terror as she scrambled backward. “No… no, listen to me! Please don’t do this! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She pleaded, as a stray chunk of stone slammed into the side of her head, her expression going blank as she dropped to the ground. 

“That’s bad,” Yusuke noted.

“That’s very, very bad.” Haru agreed. “It’s up to us. We’ll have to act- work together as Phantom Thieves to-” She was cut off as a pillar of rock shot up from under her, slamming into her chin and knocking her to the ground.

Ann screamed. “I hate this place- I actually HATE this place!” 

Callisto turned to face Ann and Yusuke, before slowly stomping forward, whips brandished and the ground rumbling after each step. _”I’ll… kill you… I’m a lady with class… I’m attractive… tell me I’m attractive… Beautiful… I am... “_ She stopped in her tracks suddenly, before looking down as ice seemed to creep up her leg. The two Phantom Thieves and the demon turned to the side, where a very awake-looking Maya and an extremely tired-looking Chie and Kanji were standing a few feet off. Maya’s Persona faintly hovering behind her.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay.” Maya said, her expression difficult to read. Her brows seemed to furrow slightly, before she shook her head, biting her lip slightly. 

“...It’s alright, Ulala.”

* * *

Maya really didn’t want to be right about this. Normally she was psyched about being right about things, but this… well, if she was wrong then it’d be awkward at the very least. If she was right?

...Well, there was a pretty high chance she was right.

Ulala had been her best friend since high school. It had been hard for her. For most of her high-school career, she had trouble getting to know people. She wasn’t born a social butterfly, and she definitely didn’t look like it then. She hung onto ‘awkward teen’ until it was time for her to start considering universities. But… Ulala was someone close. Despite expectations, they got along so well that they even shared an apartment together when they were in their 20’s. 

And… well, that level of closeness meant that Maya had heard many of Ulala’s jealous rants about various women before. Either induced by drunkenness, or a bad breakup, or just someone that Ulala caught out of the corner of her eye on a television screen that just managed to flip a switch. Hell, Ulala had willingly become one of Nyarlathotep’s pawns purely out of jealousy for Maya. So, after waking up to what felt like a minor earthquake, and hearing what sounded like a major breakdown outside of the room they were supposed to be residing in, she was hit by the worst case of deja vu to ever exist. Of course, normally Ulala kept her crude comments and outrages to the confines of their apartment or another private space, but… well- it seemed like demons cared much, much less about social conventions. Also because this particular tantrum seemed… a lot more violent. Ulala was normally better at managing her temper. But… she also supposed that demons didn’t exactly have a gym membership, so punching bags were out of the question.

Any chances that she could be wrong were dissipated when the demon seemed to slink away at the very sight of Maya. The raven-haired woman sighed, glancing back towards Kanji and Chie. “Go check on Tammy and the kids. I can handle this.” She ordered, trying to keep her voice even as she slowly approached the demon. Her throat felt dry. She had… too many questions. Like, why was her best friend a demon? And _why was her best friend a demon?_

The demon continued to slink away, trying to back up for each step Maya took forward. It hissed, its neck craning to the side as it hit a wall, realizing there was nowhere for it to run. 

_”D...don’t… don’t look at me…”_

“Well, you’re looking calmer. C’mon, ‘La. I’m here.” Maya replied. She managed to force a smile, holding out her hands. “You know…”

As soon as Maya’s hands came in contact with the demon, she felt herself get pushed back, a wall of stone erupting between them. _”You’re… nnnno...nnnnnoooo…”_

“It’s me. It’s… complicated, but it’s me. If you chill out, maybe I can explain things.” She glanced over at the terrified-looking set of Phantom Thieves, letting out a bit of an exhausted sigh. She gave them an ‘ok’ signal, before gesturing for them to back up. They didn’t exactly need much prompting to get far away from whatever this situation was. The low, twisted facsimile of her friend’s voice echoed from behind the wall of stone, filled with confusion.

_”Ma-ya… yyyyou… you were gone… Ma-ya…”_

Maya managed a chuckle. “Well, you know, I’ve always been kind’a stubborn. Now, what’s the problem? Saw a girl with a prettier beauty mark?”

The stone wall lowered, slowly. The demon- Ulala- stared at her. Her expression was… well, impossible to read, considering that her face was splintered into mirror-like shards, but considering how many times Maya had to comfort her when they were younger, Ulala was probably giving her the dirtiest look.

_”Y...you’re such a bitch…”_

Maya chuckled for real this time. “I’m not! I’m just honest. You can’t get all angry every time you think someone is more attractive than you. Besides, Ann-chan is seventeen. You two are not competing at all.”

There was a moment of silence, before Maya took a step closer, resting her hand on the side of the demon’s face. There was a tense moment, Maya bracing herself to get pushed back again before it slowly subsided into a terse moment of acceptance. “...Who did this to you, Ulala?”

There was a beat of silence before Ulala’s head shifted slightly. Maya followed the gaze, resting on the slowly-recovering Tamaki, who Kanji was helping up. Maya’s brow furrowed as she dropped her hand from Ulala’s head, turning and marching toward Tamaki. As soon as the brown-haired woman was to her feet, Maya gripped her collar, slamming Tamaki against the wall.

“Talk.” She said her tone ice cold.

Tamaki’s eyes were wide. Panicked. Ashamed. “Maya… I… I wish… I didn’t want you to…” She stammered Maya’s eyes narrowed.

“Hiding it from me doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. What. Did. You. Do?”

“I… I fused her… I… everyone here is part-demon… except for me…” Tamaki mumbled. Maya was stunned for a moment before all she saw was red. She let go of Tamaki’s collar, her hand reaching into her coat for one of her handguns, fingers grasping it for a short moment before she paused. She closed her eyes, biting her tongue for just a moment as she took a short breath. No reason to go wild. She needed to… set an example. Be stronger. 

“Kanji-kun,” Maya said, after a moment of deliberation.

“Uh- yea, Amano-san?”

“Take Tammy back to her office with Chie-san’s help. Kids, go back and get some rest. Now. I… I need to be alone with Ulala for a moment.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He replied quickly, he and Chie gripping Tamaki by the arms and sending her away. Maya looked over her shoulder at the three Phantom Thieves as they limped back toward their ‘quarters’ for the night. Maya sighed, squatting down on the ground and holding her head in her hands. It had been incredibly easy for her to look at the demon-Ulala a moment ago, but now that it was just the two of them, it seemed almost impossible. Her cheeks felt slick, tears beginning to roll down them as much as she tried to hold them back. She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

_”Don’t cry… or… that dumb rabbit of yours… will laugh at you…”_ Ulala groaned. Maya looked up for a moment before brushing the hand away.

“His name is ‘Mr. Bunbun’.” She replied, quietly. “I… I’m sorry, Ulala.”

_”For… what?”_ Ulala replied, folding her lanky arms. Maya sighed, standing up 

“I mean, this… this whole timeline happened because I failed. And now everyone is hiding in fear of demons, and you’re… actually a demon. If I had been better- smart enough to beat Nyarlathotep the first time around, then you would have been spared from so much pain, and--”

_”Shut up, Ma-ya.”_

She blinked. “What…?”

_”This isn’t like you… not the Ma-ya I know. Tatsuya told us about our… ‘Other Selves’... it gave us hope…”_ She let out a low, pitiful chuckle. _”Amano Maya… the best woman ever… in two timelines… give me a break…”_

“But that’s it! I’m not. I messed up this timeline, and… I think I messed up mine too. If I hadn’t gone out of the way to meet those kids, then…”

_”I’m not done. Seeing you act pitiful like this… is this really how you feel? The Ma-ya I knew. I loved. I envied. That Ma-ya was stubborn… reckless… overwhelmingly positive even through the worst times… don’t tell me you suddenly grew up and started to overthink things like an adult…”_

“I am an adult.”

_”You were an adult when we shared an apartment… and you still didn’t know how to cook anything outside of miso soup and reheated ramen… or how to use a vacuum… or how to drive properly… or how to spell...”_

Maya scoffed. “I can spell!”

_”Whatever words you didn’t know in hiragana… you awkwardly wrote out in katakana like a child… and because your handwriting is so terrible it made proofreading for you a… nightmare…”_

“It’s called aesthetic, Ulala.”

_”It’s stupid, Ma-ya…”_

There was a moment of silence before the two of them began chuckling. The change Ulala wrapped one of her arms around Maya, pulling her close. Maya paused, listening. There wasn’t the low, rhythmic sound of a beating heart. Her body was cold. But… of course, it was. Demons didn’t have hearts, or souls, or the need to breathe or blink, or any of the small things that made humans ‘human’. But… Maya felt it. The slow rise and fall of Ulala’s chest, the quiet sound of breathing- no matter how unnecessary it was. “...I didn’t think Tammy would do this to you…”

_”...My choice.”_ Ulala replied, quietly.

Maya looked up. “I don’t… understand.”

_”This was… my choice. I never thought you’d… see me like this. Ugly… demonic… and… ugly…”_

“You already said ug-... listen, Ulala. You know I don’t care about that. Besides, looks don’t matter. It’s what’s on the inside that counts. And… I mean, you’re different, but you’re still the brutally honest Ulala I know.”

_”Coming from the woman who went from a 5 to a 10 as soon as she got out of secondary school… I don’t buy your whole ‘looks don’t matter’ thing. But… thank you.”_ Ulala’s form began to waver, her body beginning to fade with a faint glow. _”...Oh.”_

“Wait, Ulala- what’s wrong?”

_”Existing… is just burning magnetite from Tammy’s… COMP. I guess it’s sending me back automatically… to save resources…”_

Maya felt herself losing her grip, holding Ulala as tight as she could as the demon began to fade away. “But we just started talking! And- you said something about this being your choice- I want to know what happened. Can’t you tell me what happened?”

_”I’m not… dying. Calm… down. I just… wanted you to be proud of me…”_ Ulala lifted up Maya’s chin, looking her dead in the eye. The broken, mirror-like pieces of her face began to slowly reform, Maya seeing only her reflection staring back. But… her reflection smiling tenderly. Content. 

_”You’ll make the right choice, Ma-ya. Think… positive. I lo…”_ There was a brief burst of light before Maya felt herself holding onto nothing. The darkness of the subway station being the only thing left. That, and her thoughts. She wanted to cry, curl herself into a ball, and let her tears do the talking. But… she did have to make a choice. Knowing that Tammy had subjected Ulala and… whoever else to a life of demonic servitude. That wasn’t something that she could just forgive. The easy option would be to leave here and now with Kanji, Chie, and the kids. They didn’t need to pack, and they could just try and make it to that Central Beacon on their own. It wasn’t impossible. 

But.

These people didn’t deserve to be forsaken just because of what Tammy did. And she had questions. Were these people turned into demons because there wasn’t another option? Was it a choice for some of them? All of them? She folded her arms, taking a terse breath before heading in the direction that Chie and Kanji had gone, entering a small office. Tamaki sat at a desk, Chie and Kanji leaning against the wall, idly playing rock-paper-scissors with each other before glancing over at Maya.

“Is… everything okay, Maya-san?” Chie asked, “We took Uchida-san back here like you asked. I… I mean, I’m getting the feeling some messed up stuff is happening, so…”

“Four hours,” Maya said, tersely. 

Tamaki glanced towards the floor. “So soon… if you have to go then, I… won’t stop you. I can’t blame you for…”

“We’re all going. Make sure all of your people are ready in four hours.”

Tamaki blinked. “Wait- you’re still… but… what did Serizawa-san tell you?”

“Outside of the fact that I can’t drive? Not much. But… she also said that being turned into a demon was her choice, and I’m going to do my friend one last favor and believe her.” Maya rested her hands on her hips. “I’m not about to screw over a ton of innocent people because I think you’re a coward, Tammy. It’s not right. But… I expect you to answer whatever questions I have on the way there. Honestly.”

“O-of course!” Tamaki said, quickly nodding. “Amano-san… you really are a messia-”

“Being a decent human doesn’t make me some messiah.” She turned to Kanji and Chie. “You two, get some rest.”

“Don’t haf’ta tell me twice…” Kanji muttered, as he and Chie slowly exited the room, stifling some yawns. For a moment, it was just Maya and Tamaki, the two of them staring each other down.

“What I did to Suou-san and Serizawa-san…” Tamaki began. Maya felt her body tense.

“Tatsuya or Katsuya?” She asked.

“K...Katsuya. I… I have a reason, it’s just…”

“Have a good night, Tamaki.” Maya turned around, abruptly walking out of the office. She wasn’t going to bother with this. She really didn’t want another reason to just up and leave. And the thought of her husband and her best friend cooped up inside some device for the rest of their lives was enough to make her regret not pulling her gun out sooner. She gave Tamaki a flippant wave before speaking, her voice rimmed with a bristling coldness.

“I’ll be sure to fix everything for you. Wouldn’t want _everyone else's_ sacrifices to be for nothing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was originally going to censor random parts of Callisto-Ulala's dialogue outside of the curses just to add more intensity and confusion to her literal tantrum, but decided not to. Also- if some people paid attention to the constantly shifting character tags, 'Serizawa Ulala' was listed as a character and taken off... a couple of times. I wasn't exactly sure how to mark a 'demon Ulala', since if people did search the tags for specifically Ulala, having her show up as an alternate, demonic version of herself probably wouldn't be what most people were looking for, so I just decided to keep her off the character tags.


	26. Next to You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Naoya talks with Igor. Makoto arrives. Yukino punches Izanagi. Two lovers reunite.

Lo and behold, the goddess Izanami wasn’t a Persona that Naoya just had on hand. After a few seconds of soul searching, while he did have a decently powerful stock, most of them were focused on the Emperor arcana and Persona’s that knew ‘megido’ spells and could hit very, very hard outside of a Persona of the Priestess Arcana. Maki was the most qualified for this, but she did have to support everyone else. He opened his eyes, watching as Yukino and Adachi continued to try and keep Izanagi occupied. He slowly stood up, before looking around. 

If he didn’t have it, then he’d just need to go ask Old Man Igor.

He wandered away from the battlefield, taking a moment to stop by Kei’s body. It didn’t seem… real, in a sense. When he had first met Kei, the guy was a prick- to put things bluntly. Nanjo Kei was overwhelmingly cold, but at the same time was willing to risk his life time and time again to help Maki. And now he had gone from some snobby rich kid to a man who just gave up his life for a stranger. Kei had been right about one thing. He had resisted Izanagi’s lightning. There were burns across his body, but for the most part he was whole, resting intact. His expression wasn’t filled with pain, or regret, but a sense of contentment. Peaceful, even. 

Naoya didn’t have a lot of friends at St. Hermelin before the SEBEC incident. He was a loner, someone who sat back and didn’t bother to talk much. Sure, he got along with the other students, but that was about it. But in one year… SEBEC, Maki, the Snow Queen… one year, he had met so many amazing people who he had just seen and ignored day after day. Elly, Brown, Mark, Ayase, Yukino, Reiji, Maki… and Kei. Once they had gotten their Personas, they were willing to fight to the death for what they believed in. They had entered into such a dangerous world as high schoolers and were forced to adapt. Defeating the Snow Queen, killing Kandori, watching as reality began to crumble and their hometown rapidly hurtled towards insanity… 

They had said they were willing to fight to the death, but that was when they were young. Cocky. Freshly given superpowers and a vague goal by Philemon. They had said that they were willing to die to save what they cared about, but seeing Kei like this… it was illuminating. Made him realize how wrong they were. How overconfident they had been back then. If Yukino had been frozen to death by the Snow Queen, if Reiji had been slaughtered by Kandori… would they have had the resolve to keep going? They had been so young when they chose to enter this world of gods and demons. Accepted the responsibility of the masses and took the time to push forward.

That ‘Oracle’ girl… she said she was sixteen. Naoya had been seventeen when he awakened. It was funny, in a strange way. He had felt like such a badass when he had awakened back then, found a way to take all of the strange, horrible things that were happening to his town in stride. He had thought he was so mature but… looking back, that was all terrifying. He couldn’t have imagined how Saeko-sensei had felt back then, watching as her students ventured from the school and would come back bruised and bloodied, asking the nurse to patch them up and talking about what monstrosities they had taken down, and what their next goal was. How relieved she must have felt when they had come back alive, only to recount their tales about hidden forests, alternate worlds, and massive demons. 

High schoolers. Gods kept placing the fate of the world in the hands of high schoolers. It didn’t make sense. But… then again, sure it did. Being a teenager was a period of life where, despite still seeing the wonder and luster of the world, growing up seemed like a commodity- a reward- not just a facet of life. Being treated like you were mature was some kind of honor. Of course, higher beings would take advantage of that. Dig their hands into the wanderlust of teenagers- tell them that they were special, and give them a big, amazing world to explore. Give them powers beyond their wildest dreams, and make them the heroes of their own story. Part of him wanted to be angry. Livid at the thought that Philemon had chosen them for some cruel, arbitrary reason, but part of him knew that wasn’t true either. The fact that they were younger and still had that sense of wonder and excitement made them perfect. They weren’t jaded or cynical, and while they felt stuck at points, their emotions were enough to push them forward.

Becoming a Persona-user was a cruel fate, but it was one that made them better people. He had grown closer to others, was given the chance to talk to Maki again and free her from her pain. Without this, he probably would have continued to drift alone like a wallflower. Lost, and without his reason. He briefly glanced back at the battlefield, eyes landing on Maki as her body was glowing in an almost angelic light as she summoned her Persona once more. One hand reached up, pinching and fiddling with his hooped earring before he turned and searched for a Velvet Room. 

After opening a series of random doors, he managed to hit his mark. He slowly opened up to the small, blue-tinted room. It was in disarray. Instead of the solid, full room it had been before, it was more like a series of slowly rotating platforms floating above nothingness, each platform orbiting the other. Igor sat in the very center at his desk, quietly watching a flickering butterfly that rested on the edge. A small girl with long, white hair and a blue dress sat on another circular platform, slowly orbiting around Igor as she slowly thumbed through a large book. Nameless sat at his piano, which was resting on one of the larger platforms alongside Belladonna, fingers slowly and somberly playing a rendition of ‘Clair de Lune’. Belladonna was quiet, a rare sight, as she hung her head slowly, eyes closed for a moment before she slowly looked up to face Naoya. He watched as one of the platforms shifted toward him, as he slowly stepped on, beginning his orbit around the Velvet Room. Eventually, he reached Igor as his platform came to a careful halt, looking down at the old man with an air of worriedness.

“...Igor.” Naoya said, quietly. The old man slowly looked up at him, before chuckling quietly.

“Mister Toudou. It has certainly been a while.” Igor said politely, slowly reaching and pulling out a set of Persona cards. “What may I do for you today? I’m sure you’re in a bit of a hurry. After all, you and your friends are in the midst of an intense battle.”

Naoya nodded. “...Yeah. If it’s no problem, I need you to summon an Izanami for me. Like, the Goddess.”

Igor smiled. “A good choice. Ah, Lavenza. Could you please pull Izanami up in the compendium?"

The small girl looked up at Naoya for a moment, before looking over at Igor and carefully going through the pages. Eventually, she rested on a page. “Chapter Two. The Priestess Arcana. Although, are you sure that’s a safe summon, Master? Izanami is quite volatile if history serves to tell.”

“No, dear girl. It is alright. Toudou is an exemplary Persona-user. A persona of that strength and Arcana is no issue for him.” Igor let out a chuckle, although it seemed to be a bit melancholy. “The Goddess Izanami… a fitting final summon for this Velvet Room. Do not worry about the cards, my boy. I can handle it.” He began to shuffle through his deck, eyes averted from Naoya and focusing on the shifting Persona cards.

Naoya’s eyes widened slightly. “...Final summon? Hey, what are you talking about?” He asked, before Belladonna burst out into a brief stint of song.

”♪ Time continues forward.  
The greater Powers grow closer to their zenith.  
The arduous journeys of eight have come to a close.  
For this, we must say goodbye. ♪”

“That didn’t answer my question. Isn’t this place above time? Above space, and matter, and whatever?” Naoya asked, feeling tense. “I don’t understand, old man. Why do you have to say goodbye? If you’re kicking me out, that’s one thing, but I don’t think that’s the point you’re making.”

The butterfly began to hover slightly, before managing to weakly float up to Naoya’s eye level. He stared at the golden butterfly for a moment, before folding his arms. “What’s this all about, Philemon?”

_”...I will not be here for much longer. I have been broken apart for too long. And, once I leave… then the powers holding this Room together will no longer exist. Young man, this is the last time you will be able to come here. And… most likely lead to the last time you wield the power of ‘Persona’ ever again.”_

Before Naoya could speak, the butterfly floated past him, twinkling as it spiraled into the vast, almost endlessly dark ceiling of the Velvet Room, before disappearing. The girl- Lavenza- closed her eyes with a sigh, before looking at Naoya.

“...May I please ask you a favor…?” She asked.

“...Yeah, kid. Sure.” Naoya replied, hesitantly.

“If you see a young man with dark hair and a rebellious will… tell him that I lo…” She paused, before shaking her head. “Tell him that he is truly remarkable and that I will miss him dearly.”

‘Dark hair and rebellious will’ wasn’t much of a description, but he really didn’t want to harp on semantics right now. Naoya nodded in response, as the girl smiled contentedly, before continuing to thumb through the massive book. Another moment passed as Igor continued to shift through his cards, before Lavenza stood up, gesturing her arms slightly as three unconscious forms floated around him. Two adults, one man with bright blue hair and a woman with pale blonde hair. The third seemed to be a high-school girl with a brown bob-cut. He had seen none of these people before, but made the general assumption that they seemed… somewhat important.

“Mister Mishina Eikichi, Miss Lisa Silverman, and Niijima Makoto shall be returned to your realm,” Lavenza said, carefully. “They’ve been healed of Izanagi’s power, but they’re not in any shape to fight.” She said, before raising her arms into the air as they began to flash before vanishing. 

Before Naoya could comment, he heard the faint sound of objects being slid against wood. He looked back at Igor, as he laid out a few cards. The old man looked over at Nameless and Belladonna, as the two of them nodded in return. The calming sounds of ‘Clair de Lune’ were replaced with the haunting Aria of the Velvet Room as the cards Igor laid out began to flicker and shine, slowly lifting up and spinning in the air. They seemed to dance with the music, fluttering about as they surrounded Naoya and Igor like flower petals. Naoya turned to look at Igor, who was giving him a wide, happy grin, his smile reaching his eyes. The old man slowly reached out, taking Naoya’s hands gently.

“I’m proud of how you’ve grown, Naoya,” Igor said as the cards finally fused together, and one shimmering, spinning card slowly descended. Igor opened Naoya’s palms, slowly ushering the card into the man’s hands. “This card may not help you kill Izanagi, but it shall illuminate what you’ve been blind to. The story of Izanami and Izanagi is that of both tragedy, love, and rebirth. Izanami is a woman scorned, filled with immense sadness and pain, but also regret. Show Izanagi that regret. That vulnerability that followed her rage and sadness. She felt betrayed by her late husband, just as humanity feels betrayed by him now.”

Naoya stared at the card. “Igor, I… y’know, I never had the chance to thank you...”

Igor slowly shook his head. “The only way you can truly thank me is with your success.”

Naoya’s platform began drifting backwards towards the door. He watched as Igor drew further and further away, the denizens of the Velvet Room beginning to dissipate in a soft blue mist. Belladonna’s voice grew fainter and fainter as Naoya found himself dissipating from the realm that had helped him so many years ago.

”♪ I know for a fact, you were there by my side  
You were always always always there, smiling.  
If ever I lose you, I will find you...  
I will never leave you... ♪”

The last thing Naoya heard was Igor’s voice, growing more and more distant, clinging on to the recesses of his mind like a fleeting dream.

“Go forth and face the truth! It was truly an honor serving you, your friends, and all those who have come after you. You’ve been truly, truly remarkable guests.”

* * *

“...Do you feel that?” Yukino heard Maki ask, as they both continued to duck and weave out of the way of Izanagi’s lightning. Yukino summoned her Persona again, nuclear fire coalescing in its many palms before flinging a barrage of energy towards the demon. She grimaced as he effortlessly summoned a blade of light and slashed through her attack, crimson eyes glaring at her. Yukino turned to Maki, raising an eyebrow. 

“You’re... gonna need to be more specific, Maki.” She replied, panting. They had been fighting for… way too long, honestly. And as much as Maki could heal their bodies, their spirit was draining way too fast. While they had felt comfortable flinging spells earlier, and Oracle had managed to give them a bit more energy- albeit in very small bursts throughout their combat- none of them were exactly in fighting shape. She turned to face her friend, the brown-haired woman was looking back to where Naoya went, her expression tense. Maki bit her lip slightly, hands clasped together.

“I feel… sadness. Like we’re missing something. Like we lost something.” She replied.

Yukino knew that Maki wasn’t some sort of empath, but ever since the SEBEC incident she had been more… in tune with her Persona, and the way it connected to greater things and other people. Probably how she had become such a great therapist. That and she was naturally talented, obviously. Yukino, willing to distract herself from the battle for a couple of seconds, folded her arms.

“You worried about Naoya?”

Maki shot Yukino a look. “...When am I not? I feel like he’s okay though. I just can’t shake this feeling that something bad happened.” She closed her eyes, before turning back to the battle. “I’m going to have to compartmentalize my healing. I was too liberal with my Media-based spells. If I keep going as I have been, I think I may pass out.”

“You might just need to come in and fight with us… having to avoid using the Zio-spells I’m used to is wearing me out, and not doing much to Izanagi. Either we call a retreat or…

_”Incoming!”_

Oracle’s voice rang through their heads, as Maki and Yukino looked around wildly. “Yo, Oracle. Incomin’ what?”

_”No clue, but they’re coming in fast, and powerful!”_

Before Yukino could ask any more questions, a pillar of light crashed into the ground. A wave of energy seemed to pulse through the Persona-users. Yukino’s eyes widened as she braced herself. “Resonance off the charts- and it feels a helluva lot like Izanagi!” She yelled as Maki summoned Verdandi, reluctantly preparing herself for combat.

“No… my Persona feels… at ease. Whoever this is, it’s an ally.”

The light began to fade. Four figures stood in front of Izanagi, two men and two women. The two women were wearing vibrant blue dresses and had brilliant white hair, and while one of them- the one with longer hair- seemed more composed and mature, the one with shorter hair excitedly was bouncing on her toes as soon as she caught sight of Izanagi. The two men were a bit different. While one of them was dressed in the same vibrant-blue clothing as the women with the same shock-white hair, the fourth seemed to be a teenager with pale blue hair and wearing a faded school uniform.

“Ooh, yeah! Dada-da-da, dada-da-da! Baby, baby! So this is the mighty Izanagi!” The shorter-haired woman said. 

“I wish we could stay, but it appears we’re being summoned to the Velvet Room.” The mature, long-hair woman said to the emo-looking teenager. The two blue-clothed people stood silently for a moment, before the short-haired woman scooped up the blue-haired teenager in a hug, eyes squeezed shut.

“Makoto! I wish we could have spent more time together, but I feel as if this is when we truly part. I will only have to admire you from afar…”

Makoto reluctantly returned the hug, his cold gaze seeming to soften a bit. “...It’s ok, Liz. We’ve had to say goodbye before. No reason to make a big deal out of it now.”

‘Liz’ nodded, letting Makoto go and wiping her eyes, before nodding towards her compatriots. “Well, we must be off. Margaret? Theodore?”

‘Margaret’ nodded slowly, before turning to face Izanagi. “Do not fear, Yu. You will regain your humanity soon enough, and return to being the man I know you to be.” She pointed at him. “Before the sun sets on this city, you will be pure once more!” 

Yukino looked up at the sky, and was appalled at just how much time had passed. It was, well, sunset, and they had gotten here at least during midday. Of course, if this lady was serious, then she really wasn’t giving them much time to work with. Before Yukino could ask any more questions however, the three blue-clad people seemed to vanish into thin air, leaving Makoto behind. The boy slowly drew a sword, letting out an extremely tired yawn before pointing it at Izanagi. He glanced back at Maki and Yukino for a moment, before his gaze shifted to Adachi, who had just been flung what could be assumed to be an entire city block by the demon.

“I’ll get him.” Maki said, starting to run back. Yukino rested her hands on her hips, staring at the newcomer.

“So, uh, you fighting with us?”

“Guess so.” He replied, simply, before focusing his attention back at Izanagi. “...Hey. Stop it.”

Izanagi seemed a bit tense, before letting out a low chuckle. _”...So, another bearer of many masks. Still, three forms seem to be prevalent. The Master of Strings, The Savior of Man, and the God of Death.... How interesting.”_

Makoto sighed. “Uh, what was that last one again?”

_”God of Death?”_

“Cool. I want that one.” His body flashed with a brilliant blue light that was significant of a Persona summoning, but this felt… different. Powerful. As if he was truly reaching within the sea of man’s souls and wrangling forth the Persona he wanted. A shadow-ridden form rose from Makoto’s body, twisting and convulsing, before hunching forward. A pitch-black figure wearing a rippling, heavy coat floated behind him. It’s jaw seemed to be made of pure metal, hinged together like a bear trap as it snapped open and shut. White gloves encased tense fingers that gripped a heavy metal blade. Chains seemed to encase it’s body, rattling and shaking, and the chains seemed to leash onto several spinning coffins that orbited the being. It’s jaw flung open, as it let out a deafening roar, shooting towards Izanagi in a blur of shadowed movement. It’s blade flung upward, gouging into Izanagi’s chest as golden blood shot forth.

The first blood of the entire battle.

They had been scratching and wailing away at Izanagi for far too long, and this Persona seemed to have enough power to draw blood upon its first attack. Izanagi stumbled backward, before letting out a furious scream, slashing towards the boy’s Persona with no avail as it seemed to vanish and appear behind Izanagi, letting loose a blast of almighty energy as Izanagi was sent careening forward. 

“Follow up.” The boy said casually, stepping out of the way as the god was sent toward Yukino. She braced herself, summoning Durga to unleash a barrage of punches, knocking the god into the sky. The boy nodded, content. “Nice. My turn again.” He closed his eyes, his body glowing again as the ground began to rumble. Yukiko had felt this kind of power before, but… not from one Persona-user.

“A… fusion spell?”

_”Ardhanari.”_ Makoto said, his voice echoing with power. Two more Personas burst from his body. First, the multi-armed blue-skinned form of Shiva, wielding several different weapons and instruments as he shot into the sky. Another form, the elegant, veiled form of Parvati followed close behind, before the two Personas began to spin next to each other, covering themselves in a burst of energy before having fused. A new Persona with long, flowing dark hair, one half resembling a blue-skinned, muscular man with two arms. The other half resembled that of a delicate woman holding a flower. The Persona let out a scream before letting loose a burst of flame that shot upward towards Izanagi. The god threw his arms up to brace himself, the sky exploding in a wave of flame, ash, and smoke.

Oracle’s voice rang through everyone’s heads, excited.

_”This guy… he has a power like my leader! I mean, a lot less stylish, but that’s bad-ass! You have my support!”_

Makoto nodded, seemingly not phased by this. “A navigator. Neat. Hey, can you keep him busy for a couple seconds? I’m kinda on a cooldown.”

Yukino nodded, not… really in the mood to argue with the teenager that just did more damage to the god in two attacks by himself then what four Persona-users had been doing for god knows how long. She summoned her Persona again, jumping in the air. She saw Izanagi, noticing several burns covering the demon's skin. The false god let out a scream, diving down towards Yukino. “Grydyne!” She yelled, as the forces of gravity slammed against them both, sending the two of them slamming into the ground. She wheezed, blood roiling from her mouth as she and the god slammed into the ground. Izanagi began to slowly force his way up, growling, before they got another update from Oracle.

_”Heads up, one more player joined the match!”_

Before Yukino could comment, a massive blade slashed at Izanagi, causing the god to flinch backward. She looked to the side, seeing… someone. It was a man, his hair a light silver. His clothes were ripped and torn, and he proceeded to rip the rest of his shirt away, revealing rippling muscles, so, so many muscles. If they weren’t in the middle of fighting a god, ‘godlike’ would be her immediate comparison. Muscles, and a myriad of scars from battle. The man approached Yukino, helping her to her feet, as she looked into his stormy grey eyes. She felt herself getting a bit flustered, especially with the determined, powerful expression on his face.

“I… uh…” She muttered. “Thanks.”

The man nodded. “No problem. I’ve been out for a little bit. What’d I miss?”

The boy jogged over, a slight smile crossing his face. “Akihiko-senpai. Long time no see.”

The man, Akihiko, stared at the boy with shock for a second. “Wait… Makoto? But, I thought-- wait, are you a fake like that Mitsuru.” He stepped between Makoto and Yukino, raising his fists. “Don’t worry, ma’am. I can handle this.”

Yukino grimaced. ‘Ma’am’? “Oi, I’m not some old lady!” She snapped at Akihiko. Makoto chuckled, before looking over their shoulders.

“Izanagi is on the comeback. Hang on a sec.” He darted past them, Yukino and Akihiko turning to watch. The boy summoned a Jack Frost that bounded forward, letting loose a series of happy giggles. “Bufudyne.” Makoto said, stifling another yawn. The mascot let loose a gigantic wave of ice that seemed to cover and freeze the imposing god. Makoto rolled his eyes, before holding his arm out, watching as a replica of his sword flickered in his grip. “...Neat.” He shot towards Izanagi, before slashing it once. And again. And again. He let loose a barrage of strikes with his blade, each one seeming to sever a different part of the frozen demon, before he drifted back, commanding the Jack Frost again. “Megidolaon.”

Jack Frost flung a massive ball of almighty energy towards Hi-No-Kagutsuchi, as Makoto watched on with slight satisfaction as it exploded in an incredibly impressive set of shards of ice, and sparking almighty energy. Izanagi roared, before Akihiko jumped forward, summoning his Persona. A regal-looking figure, wearing traditional Roman armor appeared behind Izanagi, trapping the demon in a bear hug from behind. 

“Caesar! Debilitate!” 

The Persona began to squeeze on Izanagi’s arms, the sound of bones starting to crack as several waves of dull, colored energy shifted down Izanagi’s body. The god dropped to the ground, grimacing. The god let out a growl, before letting loose a burst of electrical energy that Caesar seemed to shrug off for the time being. 

_”A god like me shall not be restrained through such petty means!”_ Izanagi spat, before shooting into the air, dragging Caesar along with it. The regal Persona struggled to maintain his grip, as Izanagi seemed to pulse with power, spinning in the air before flinging Caesar to the ground. Akihiko winced as he quickly returned his Persona before it hit the ground. Yukino, Makoto, and Akihiko stared up at the sky as it began to darken, Izanagi summoning a large twin-bladed weapon before starting to spin it slowly, the winds around the Persona-users beginning to spin slowly.

_”You all continue to resist, like the worms that you are! Can’t you see that I’m doing you justice! Just. FALL. ALREADY!”_ His voice echoed, causing the ground to rumble. As ‘fake’ of a god this was, it was made up of the berserk strength of a powerful Persona-user. 

Maki and Adachi quickly rejoined the group, all looking up in the sky in terror. 

“Ghh… Yu-kun! If we don’t find a way to stop that, we’re screwed.” Adachi snarled, summoning his own Persona with a grimace, before it flickered and faded away, the man dropping to one knee. “Damn…! I’m out of power already?” Oracle’s voice rang throughout their heads once more, filled with tension and panic.

_”I don’t think I can deploy my Final Guard system fast enough! I’m still getting used to controlling Al Azif! I’m sorry!”_

“Does anyone know Makarakarn?” Maki asked as the sky began to pulse between a blinding white and a deafening black, Izanagi in the center of it all. “Perhaps we can try to reflect it?”

Yukino shook her head. “Not a chance in hell… whatever he’s going to throw at us, it’s gonna be almighty…”

“We can take it!” Akihiko yelled, although not terribly confident. “Just… brace yourself, everyone!”

“Vishnu,” Makoto said, plainly, as he summoned another Persona. The pale-skinned, multi-armed form of Vishnu appeared above the group of Persona-users. The being pulled out a flute, beginning to play an eerily peaceful tune that seemed to cut against the biting winds from Izanagi’s attack preparation. He closed his eyes as another Persona began to come forth, a multi-headed snake biting and snapping. “Ananta. The beginning in the end. Creation and destruction. A never-ending chain. _Infinity._” 

The two Personas fused together, becoming a ball of bright light that spread and covered the group in a large, glowing dome. The light of the dome faded, revealing a glistening, polygonal, semi-translucent shield that defended them just in time as Izanagi let out a deafening scream.

_**”I WILL OPEN YOUR EYES TO MY MYRIAD TRUTHS!”**_ He screamed, as several, whipping waves of almighty energy began to cascade downward. Whatever parts of the attack didn’t strike the barrier carved into the ground, forming massive gashes within the earth, and causing the very city itself to quake. Makoto held his hands up, mentally supporting the shield as it continued to take the brunt of the attack. It seemed sturdy at first but slowly seemed to crack and break under the continued pressure. 

A few seconds passed, but they felt like an eternity as the group huddled together, bracing themselves against the shaking earth and pounding magic. There was a brief moment of serenity as the attack stopped, and Izanagi slowly lowered himself to the ground, his own form seeming ragged and tired as the god panted heavily. 

_”The people… of Japan… are doomed either way…”_ Izanagi growled, forcing his legs to relent with their shaking. _”I… I am only doing what is best…”_

“He’s tired!” Yukino shouted. “Oi, kid. Let’s finish him off!”

Makoto shook his head, walking toward Izanagi slowly, before presenting a small, glowing object. “You’re done, Izanagi. Just accept your human soul back and give it up. I’m tired.” He said, coughing. “I haven’t done that many fusion spells in a row before…”

_”Accept that? The human that bore me was weak. A coward! I am the Creator God. Powerful! Without flaw!”_ The god summoned his blade again, as Makoto stopped short of him, the god preparing to slash the boy down. 

_”Without flaw? We both know that isn’t true.”_ A woman’s voice cut in. Unfamiliar, with the same regal intonation as Izanagi, and the same slight dissonance that was significant of all demons. Yukino and the other turned around, watching as a Japanese woman in elegant, white robes began to walk towards them. Her face seemed to be surrounded in bandages, but whatever skin was visible was of a pale coloration, and her eyes were a dim red. Long, silver hair seemed to cascade down her head and shoulders, shifting slightly in a nonexistent breeze. The being exuded a powerful aura, enough resonance to practically force all of the Persona-users into submission. The woman walked past the group, as eyes slowly followed her as she approached Izanagi. Yukino’s eyes fell on Maki, who had a content smile on her face.

“Naoya… he did it…” She whispered. Yukino’s eyes looked backward, as Naoya was slowly walking toward the group at a much slower pace. His hair covered his eyes, his expression unreadable, but his body glowing with the faint blue light representative of a Persona-summoner. 

“So that’s… Izanami…?” Yukino asked, cautiously. “Talk about powerful, huh…?”

Izanagi took a step back. _”You… you should be in Yomi. I sealed you away. I…”_

Izanami scoffed, gently ushering for Makoto to move out of the way. He did as he was told. _”And yet, here I am. How interesting. I have to say, I am a bit disappointed. The man who I had bore so many children with wasn’t nearly this arrogant.”_

_”Hold your tongue, Izanami. You have no right to scold me about arrogance and vanity. It was your vanity that cursed the lands, threatened the deaths of thousands.”_

_”Ah, yes. Because this is the work of a benevolent god.”_ She said, her tone airy and dripping with sarcasm, vaguely gesturing to the chaos that surrounded them. _”I will admit my flaws. In my many years… no, centuries of rage, I cursed the lands of Japan with thousands upon thousands of deaths. But it was never born of hatred. You betrayed me, betrayed my trust.”_

Izanagi lowered his blade, shaking his head. _”You assumed betrayal. That in your state- singed and mutilated, that I would no longer love you.”_

_”Because you wouldn’t! You had an eye for beauty, and I lost that. No longer was I the goddess that you fell in love with, but a wretched monster in your eyes.”_

“...Are we supposed to be watching this?” Adachi asked quietly. Maki elbowed him in the ribs. “What?” He hissed. “This is like watching two divorced parents meet for coffee, and we’re the kids that got dragged along so that they wouldn’t kill each other. It’s uncomfortable.”

Makoto walked over to the group, scratching his chin. “I think it’s going in the opposite direction than ‘disdain and murder’, and that kind of makes me more uncomfortable.”

_”Izanami. Remove the bandages covering your visage, and I shall tell you firsthand how wrong you are.”_

The goddess stood still for a moment, before slowly peeling away at the bandages covering her face, watching as they fell to the ground. The sight was… certainly not pretty. In contrast to the few parts of pale, untouched skin, the bandages were covering rotting, torrid flesh. Wrinkled and burned, pustulous and dribbling with maggots, scabs, and bile. Adachi held back a gag, the rest of the group chose to look away. 

Izanami sighed, sadly. _”Izanagi, I…”_

_”You pushed me away before I could tell you how I felt back in the depths of the underworld.”_ The god kneeled down closer, monstrous hands gently cupping Izanami’s face. _”Beauty has nothing to do with one's outer appearance. To think of me as the type of man to be obsessed with physicality is an insult to our time together. And, deep down, I know full well that you are not a wicked woman, my love.”_

She closed her eyes. _”Izanagi, I know you are not a wicked man as well, so… why? Why are you forcing humanity through such pain, despite claiming to love them so? Reveling in such destruction is unbecoming of you, love.”_

Izanagi looked around, his expression softening slightly. _”...Do you not feel it? The premonitions of pain to be. I simply… I simply thought that if people could embrace their inner gods and demons, they may be able to avoid such pain. Humanity is filled with sin and avarice, I thought that… perhaps a new start was in order.”_

_”Foolish as ever, I see.”_ Izanami chuckled, shaking her head. _”Humanity is coated with sin, but look at us. Are we so much better? I have known nothing but darkness and regret for centuries, and… these ‘Persona-wielders’ have shown me that. Encountering the boy that you’re using as a vessel, having him show me the truth and that humanity can forge its own happiness… I was naught but an egotistical fool. Izanagi, my love, I don’t want you to fall down my path.”_

Izanagi responded with a slow nod. _”...I see. It seems that you have grown much wiser than I. I have forgotten what I loved about humanity in the first place in my arrogance. I… I am nothing more than a murderer.”_

_”The gates of Yomi are vast, and the lines are long. I’ll see what I can do.”_ She laughed softly, rolling her eyes slightly. _”A wife shouldn’t have to clean after her husband's mistakes, but I suppose the follies of man are inevitable, no matter how ‘holy’ they are.”_

Izanagi let out a sheepish chuckle. _”I… suppose so. Well then, I suppose I will relinquish control of this young man. I had assumed humanity to be weak, but… if you can see how wrong that is, then I suppose I can as well.”_ Izanagi’s hulking form began to glow and shrink, as light trickled from the body of Narukami Yu. After a few moments, Yu was back to normal, laying on his back as the form of a Japanese man hovered above him. His hair was tied into a long, black ponytail, and he seemed to be in the prime of his life. The form- Izanagi- floated over to Izanami, holding her gently.

_”Do you forgive me, my love?”_ He asked, quietly.

_”I have forgiven you for worse.”_ She replied, gently. The two gods looked back on the small team of Persona-users. _”It is them that you should ask for forgiveness.”_

Desperate to get things over with, the entire group of humans replied with various mumbled ‘no problems’ and variations of ‘yeah we’re cool’. Izanagi chuckled, shaking his head, before looking over at Makoto. 

_”Young man. If you would be so kind as to make me one with this man again, so I may return to the Sea of Human Souls.”_ He glanced back towards Izanami. _”I will meet you there, love. We have avoided each other for far too long. Centuries of catching up to do.”_

Makoto rolled his eyes, before presenting the glowing orb that he held in his palms. The orb floated up, drifting into Izanagi’s chest before the god floated backward, hovering above Yu as his form began to shift and change into a form more fitting of a Persona. The newly formed Izanagi-no-Okami tilted it’s head towards the sky, before uttering the familiar mantra to all of the Persona-users on the field.

_”I am thou, thou art I. I am Izanagi-no-Okami, the original God. From thy emergence from here on out, I shall be the light to humanity that I was meant to be.”_

The form dissipated, the energy slowly shifting into Yu as he slowly began to breathe, his body still limp. Izanami stayed for a moment longer, as Naoya rejoined the group. She nodded towards the Persona-users.

_”Children of man, please remember this: your fate is in your hands from here on out. But… for now, I shall return those who were cleaved down by my husband as a form of recompense. And as thanks. For centuries I have been unable to face Izanagi again, and… you’ve managed to reunite my being with him once more, so we may once again intermingle within the Sea of Humanity’s Souls.”_ She bowed, carefully, before beginning to fade. _”Stay diligent, my children. The premonitions of my husband were not purely heresy. You have to succeed.”_

And with that, she was gone. 

Yukino leaned into Naoya, wrapping him in a tired hug. “Holy fuck, Naorin. Talk about a clutch summon.”

He seemed dazed, blinking for a moment before glancing at Yukino and Maki. “Oh… uh, yeah. Sorry, just… still processing things.”

Maki frowned, folding her arms. “We won, Naoya. What’s the matter?”

“...We lost the Velvet Room. Philemon is… doing something, and can’t contribute any more power to Igor, which means… the Velvet Room is gone.” He replied, his tone hollow. “He said… he was proud of us.” Resolve seemed to fill his eyes. “...If there’s something big coming, I want to be ready. Fight as hard as I can, for his sake.”

“...I wouldn’t expect any less of you, Toudou.” A familiar voice called out from behind the group. The three Mikaga-cho Persona-users turned around, before staring at the form of Nanjo Kei. Burned, scarred, and worse for wear, but definitely standing. He was in the process of wrapping his scarf around his neck, giving them a wry smile. Maki began to tear up, running over and hugging him tightly.

“Kei! You’re okay!”

He chuckled, nodding. “It takes more than a god to kill me. Besides, I haven’t truly fulfilled my promise to Yamaoka. My title for Number One may be usurped, considering the young talent we have bustling it.” He said, cockily. Naoya rolled his eyes, wandering over and giving Kei a gentle pat on the back. Yukino felt herself tearing up as well, shaking her head.

“Jeez, dying definitely didn’t humble you at all. Good. If you came back and weren’t a massive dickhead, I’d be freaked out.”

Makoto looked around. “Looks like Izanami kept her promise. Look.” He pointed around, as forms began to rise from the rubble slowly. The next to come back seemed to be a woman with neck-length brown hair, and a man in a baseball cap. Akihiko seemed excited, running over to them, waving his arms. 

“Yukari! Junpei!”

The two looked over at him, before rushing over to him as well, as the three wrapped themselves up in an excited hug, laughing happily. Adachi rolled his eyes, before glancing off to the side. 

“Huh, lookit that. Hanamura-kun, Amagi-chan, and their dumbshit bear are back too. What a pain…” 

As Adachi said, a young man with dyed brown hair and a young woman with long, black hair slowly stood up. Next to them, a bear costume began to slowly inflate from the rubble. None of them ran towards Adachi, instead, the three of them ran towards the limp body of Yu with various worried cries of ‘sensei’ and ‘partner’. 

Another moment passed before three bodies seemed to appear next to the group in a flash of blue light. Two adults and a teenager dropped in a limp pile. Yukino yelled, stepping back before squinting. “Wait… Mishina-san? Lisa-san? And uh…”

_”Queen!”_

Oracle’s Persona drifted toward the ground before a hatch opened up from the bottom. A small girl with long, dyed-orange hair stumbled out. She was wearing a black bodysuit with green accents, and goggles with massive orange lenses. She ran towards the girl in the pile- letting out several short utterances of ‘ow’, Yukino noticed she was limping slightly- before reaching ‘Queen’, pulling her away from the group and wrapping her in a hug. “Queen! Queen! You’re okay!”

Lisa and Eikichi slowly opened their eyes as well, groaning before slowly pushing themselves up to their feet. Yukino walked over, helping them up. 

“Woah, Yukino-san. What are you doing here?” Eikichi asked, scratching his head.

“Well, considering you couldn’t beat Izanagi, I had to clean up your mess.” She replied, smugly. 

“_Haime_!? You really managed to do that, Yukki-san?” Lisa asked. “That’s pretty impressive!”

There was the murmur of chatter and reunion between the various groups of Persona-users, before an excited voice cut through the chatter.

“Holy SHIT, is that Makoto?!” Junpei yelled. Oracle and ‘Queen’ seemed concerned for a brief moment, before they both realized that Junpei was running straight for the extremely powerful teenage boy, Yukari close behind. Makoto smiled slightly, reaching up as the two exchanged a high five, and Yukari seemed tentative.

“...You… haven’t aged a day since then...” She said, her voice wavering slightly. “Makoto, I…”

“I’m partial to older women anyways.” Makoto said coolly, sliding his hands in his pockets casually. Yukari stood still for a moment, before wiping her eyes, gently punching him in the shoulder.

“I… ugh, you dick! You ruined the moment!” She said, before scooping him up in a tight hug, tears running down her face. Junpei chuckled, shaking his head.

“Well, only Makoto could say shit like that and get away with it… seems like he’s the real deal, although ‘how’ is an entirely other story...” He mumbled, Akihiko nodding in amused agreement.

Yu finally got up to his feet, with the support from his friends, clearing his throat to get the attention of all the other Persona-users. “Uh… so, I think I should probably apologize for whatever happened. I don’t really… remember, but if I did all this…” He looked around at the destruction, before bowing. “Then I sincerely apologize. When we focus our attention on rebuilding, I’ll be sure to give my full support.”

Makoto shook his head. “No time to worry about that now. I forgot to mention, but Nyx is coming back.”

Akihiko, Junpei, and Yukari seemed floored. “Nyx?!” Junpei yelled.

Naoya, Ken, and Yukino seemed… less floored. “We already beat her once. Snow Queen, froze our school, yadda yadda.” Naoya said, folding his arms. 

Makoto raised an eyebrow. “Not really. Did you fight a massive shadow the size of the moon that was slowly descending upon the planet?”

The three adults exchanged glances. “...I don’t… think so.” Kei said, reluctantly.

“Then shut up. What you fought was a fraction of Nyx’s power. This is the real deal, and we’re going to need as much firepower as we can to turn Nyx away.” He looked up towards the sky, his eyes narrowing. 

“The Fall is coming, and we need to be ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm pretty sure i just wrote Shinto fanfiction for part of this chapter.


	27. JOKER

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren loses himself. Katsuya and Morgana find their resolve.

In Ren’s defense, the last thing he had expected was to have Morgana hoisted up by the bandanna, pinned against the wall, knife to the cat’s throat. That wasn’t the plan. The fight hadn’t been nearly as exciting as he had hoped. He had seen Morgana in battle before, knew all about Zorro’s- and additionally Diego’s strengths and weaknesses. Whatever Morgana had in speed, Ren had in power. And their overall magical strength was about on par with one another. Or… had been. The younger, weaker Joker would have had trouble. But he was beyond that now. He was powerful, able to defeat any enemy that came his way. He was more than just some petty thief.

His grip tightened around Morgana’s neck, as his former mentor let out a pained squeak, struggling. “D..damn… looks like I didn’t have anything to teach you after all… huh, Ren?” He said, giving him a tense smirk. “Or… well, there’s one thing...”

Ren’s eyes narrowed, his teeth grit. “Yeah? And what’s that?”

He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hand as he was forced to let Morgana go. He looked at his hand, seeing his own knife embedded in the back of it. He stumbled backward, watching as Morgana dropped to the ground, coughing, before grinning at Ren.

“Never lose focus when you’re dealing with a Phantom Thief.”

Ren growled, power beginning to well up in his body, as he felt Akechi standing next to him. “So, Joker? You’re just going to let your cat make a fool of you? If I remember correctly, he was your pet, correct?” The detective said smugly, as the writhing form of Joker-Arsene began to push forth, the ground beginning to rumble. Morgana had his back against the wall, panting. He tried to summon his own Persona, the faint form of Diego flickering forth, before fading as Morgana found himself dropping to the ground, his injuries beginning to set in. Ren’s Persona hovered above Morgana, a massive ball of cursed energy in its palms, preparing to drop and obliterate the cat in one attack. Ren hesitated for a moment, a sudden piercing sensation shooting through his head as he dropped to one knee.

Morgana… this was _Morgana_. Memories flooded his head. Long nights where they just sat and talked. Short nights where Morgana forced Ren to take care of himself and get to sleep earlier. Meeting in Kamoshida’s Palace, reuniting in Okumura’s Palace. The fact that Morgana was willing to give up his form in the real world for humanity’s sake. This was wrong. They shouldn’t have been fighting- they should be working together. They were partners- they had a bond that couldn’t- shouldn’t be broken. Diego was indicative of that. He grabbed at his head, screaming. His eyes began to water, his vision blurring. “M...Morgana… I… I…”

The cat slowly inched forward. “Ren! Ren, what is it?”

**Do you truly believe all of that? Deception runs deep. Morgana had no qualms about fighting you now. If given the chance, and if you weren’t useful to him earlier, do you not think that he would have killed you then?**

Right… they were all just lying to him. The world was cruel, and the idea of trust was crueler. Everyone was just using him. His ‘friends’, Yaldabaoth, Maruki… time and time again he was just a tool for others. He had to solve everyone’s problems, help everyone all by himself, but nobody was there for him. He watched as Morgana stumbled forward, Ren’s eyes narrowing.

“I won’t let you lie to me anymore.” 

Morgana’s eyes widened as Ren ripped the blade from his hand, the wound suddenly closing over and healing with a viscous, black goo. He swung the knife toward Morgana as his former friend stumbled back, before a burst of flame shot up next to him. He turned, watching as Katsuya slowly approached the two of them, his Persona in tow. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, and Ren could finally tell just how intense the officers eyes were. A piercing gaze that Ren was entirely the focus of. The eyes of a man who had stared into the abyss, and fought back.

**The eyes of a fool.**

“Morgana-san. Run.” Katsuya said simply, Helios snapping its fingers as a wall of flame shot up between Ren and the cat.

Morgana tried to protest. “Wait- Suou-san, no way! I’ve got to--”

“I said run. You can’t handle this.” Katsuya said, sternly. He began to approach slowly, twin fireballs forming in his Personas hands. “When Amamiya-kun summoned his Persona around me, I had felt a sense of fear that I haven’t felt in years. First my brother, and now Amamiya-kun? You really have an eye for innocent youths, don’t you _Nyarlathotep_?”

As soon as the haunted name hit Ren’s ears, he lost consciousness. His vision went dark, and his ears suddenly went deaf. 

Katsuya, however, saw something much, much worse. For a brief moment, Ren’s body went limp, before suddenly jerking upward and standing upright, yet stilted, like some sort of tormented puppet. Ren’s eyes were pitch black, as oozing black tentacles seemed to push out and slither from behind them, snaking down his face. ‘Ren’ grinned, his lips tightening into a smirk that seemed uncannily wide, and far too manic. A deep chuckle seemed to emanate from his throat, in a voice that was so close to being Ren’s own, but just off enough to send a chill down Katsuya’s spine.

“What do you want? A medal?” Nyarlathotep snarled, forcing Ren’s body to fold his arms, casting a malevolent sneer towards Katsuya. “Ever since you saw the name ‘Joker’... you knew this was inevitable.”

“You bastard…” Katsuya scowled, preparing to attack, before Nyarlathotep wagged his finger, clicking his tongue.

“Ah-ah-ah. You’ll only be hurting poor ‘Amamiya-kun’. And like you said, he’s an ‘innocent youth’. Although… he’s also a criminal, and as of now, a murderer.” The being let out a boisterous laugh. “Besides, this isn’t entirely my doing. Deep down, this is what he wants.”

“I doubt that.”

“But it’s true. Corrupting this young man has been… incredibly easy. No matter where he went, he was considered a monster by society. An outcast. A reject. And yet he broke himself time and time again in order to save it. All I had to do was tell him what he had been worrying about all this time. That all his work was worthless. A sham. That those ‘bonds’ he forged were just as flimsy and shaky as he feared.”

Katsuya rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to be a powerful deity? And yet you keep relying on teenagers for your little schemes. Cowardly, 

Nyarlathotep shrugged. “As if I cared for your opinion. Besides, I’ve manipulated my fair share of adults. But, that aside, I’m assuming that you’re here to fight me? I have to say, not your smartest move, Suou.”

“Not exactly. I was just buying time for Morgana-san to escape. And buying time for the Fiends.” He folded his arms as Ren slowly returned to his senses, the dark tendrils retracting back into his body as he stumbled back for a moment, confused. He heard the thundering sound of hoofbeats and footsteps, turning around as the remaining Fiends stormed into Daisoujou’s chambers. The Horsemen were actually on their horses, to Ren’s amusement, and Hell Biker was resting on his cycle. Mother Harlot stomped in on her beast, looking around frantically as Matador and David slowly inched in from behind. 

_”What… has occurred here?”_ Mother Harlot hissed, looking around at the crumpled, empty robes of Daisoujou, and the limp, deceased body of Rise on the ground. Her eyes snapped up to Ren and Katsuya, the latter slowly backing away. _”...I see. This is thy ‘rebellion’? The penance we must face for locking you away? You desecrated my goddess vessel, slaughtered Chemtrail, massacred dear little Alice, and now… Lord Daisoujou too? Have you no shame?”_

Ren scoffed, folding his arms. “Your ‘Lord’ wasn’t very powerful. Besides, this is a world of strength, right? Why did you follow such a weak demon in the first place? If anything, I just followed your little rules of ‘chaos’.”

Mother Harlot grit her teeth. _”Daft boy, attacking Daisoujou during his period of meditation when he’s at his weakest. Have you no honor?!”_

Ren ignored her. “Actually, since I beat the leader of the Fiends, doesn’t that make me the new leader?” He began pacing back and forth. “I mean… if you had gone ahead and merged me with Daisoujou, I would have been a weakling. But I’ve proved I’m stronger. So, how about this? I go up and handle your little Lucifer problem, but I take the Fiends with me. After all, the odds of killing a Demon King are much higher that way.”

The Fiends looked amongst themselves, as Matador stepped up. _”I can not speak for my kin, but I refuse alongside you. When we had fought before, I sensed honor. Resolve through strife. But you’ve lost your style. Your justness. Your resolve is tainted and dirtied.”_

**He is wrong. You’re as just as always.**

“You’re wrong. I’m as just and ‘honorable’ as before.” Ren spat. “But if you’re going to prattle on, how about a rematch? It seems like you’re just bitter about how our fight turned out.”

_”En garde.”_ Matador growled, darting forward as Ren ducked out of the way, drawing his blade and cleanly carving it through Matador’s chest as dark ichor spewed outward. Matador dropped to the ground, coughing as he forced himself to stand up. _”You… weren’t that fast before.”_

“I wasn’t as confident before.” Ren growled, pulling out his pistol and casually aiming it towards Matador’s head. The demon twitched, beginning another assault before Ren calmly pulled the trigger, watching as the skeletal performer fell backward, landing on the ground in a clatter as his bones began to fade into a dark ash, and his clothes lay in a limp pile on the floor. Ren walked over, picking up Matador’s blade and examining it. “...Hm.” He looked up, glancing around. Katsuya was nowhere to be found. He must have escaped- especially if all of the Fiends were focused on Ren. Still… neither Katsuya or Morgana were any sort of match for Ren now. He held out Matador’s sword, gripping it by the blade as it began to cut into his palm, blood dripping onto the floor slowly.

“Any other challengers? Mother Harlot, being as I knocked over your ‘leader’ like a sack of potatoes, I think it’s fair to say that the Fiends are now under the control of Amamiya Ren.”

**No. That name is a reflection of your weaker self. You know who you truly are.**

Ren slowly shook his head, before adjusting his mask. “No… the Fiends are under the control of Joker, now. I’m going to kill Lucifer, find my way back home, and make it into a world where society means nothing. Where judgement only comes from those who truly earn it. Not those with money, or political influence. Not those who buy their way into power by bullying those who are weaker.” A world of strength… a world where he could shape it as he wanted. That’s what the Phantom Thieves truly wanted. Social reform on a grander scale. But a world of strength would be prone to collapsing, or stagnation. “...I’ll kill Lucifer, and I’ll take his place as ruler of the demons.”

_”My apologies, but did you say that you would rule over the demons?”_ Mother Harlot asked. _”A human ruling demons is a laughable concept.”_

Joker slowly approached Mother Harlot, the other Fiends nervously giving him space as he hopped onto her massive beast, sidling up next to her and wrapping an arm around her. “A laughable concept? So, what were you planning on doing to me once I did your dirty work, hm? Toss me aside like some sort of used rag?” His grip around her grew tighter, as she began to squirm. 

_”I… I only meant…”_

Hell Biker revved his engine. _”Oi, get the fuck away from ‘er!”_

Joker sighed, summoning his Persona. The distorted, tendril-like fingers of Joker-Arsene slipped around Mother Harlot’s neck, slowly choking her. The other Fiends drew their weapons, preparing to attack, but hesitating in a worry of accidentally hitting their ‘mother’. The Whore of Babylon began to shake and spasm, her skeletal head rattling and her body beginning to twitch rapidly. Joker chuckled as he let go of her, kicking her off her steed and watching as she slammed into the cold ground. He grabbed the reins of her seven-headed steed, tightening them as each of the heads reluctantly, and obediently began to fall under his influence. 

“My Fiends, we’re not enemies. Our enemy is Lucifer. Once we strike and win, you’ll be given true power, and the freedom to truly cause chaos.” He snapped the reins, as Mother Harlot’s beast began to tread forward. Massive wings began to sprout from it’s back as it slowly, yet surely began to lift into the air. That was useful. Shijima was a floating temple, after all. Joker chuckled, turning behind him as the Horsemen began to follow behind him. He grinned, his beast picking up in speed as it smashed through the ceiling of the chamber, as he and the other Fiends ascended into the blood-red sky. The floating temple seemed to flash for a moment, as several runic lights began to slowly turn on.

As if on cue, a massive swarm of angels began to pour from the temple, diving down towards Ren and the Fiends. He grinned, drawing his knife.

“Buckle up, demons. It’s time for the grand finale.”

* * *

Katsuya stumbled out onto the dirt. The building that the Fiends used were filled with cracks and breaks in the foundation, so escaping was more of a matter of not getting caught than a matter of actually finding the exit. He could only assume most demons didn’t take advantage of this fact out of either fear, or respect. He ran, looking out into the sky as several demonic forms shot out from the building, only to be faced with a massive, pale white warm of angels. He took a step back, staring out toward the sky as it began to rain. Dark blood began to pour from the sky as the Fiends hacked through angels as if it was their one calling. And in the middle of it all… Amamiya. 

“Ren isn’t evil, you know.” He heard a boyish voice call out from the shadows. Katsuya looked around, before catching sight of a pair of blue eyes peeking from the Shadows. Morgana sighed, keeping his distance- either to keep out of the ‘rain’ or respect for Katsuya’s allergies. Both were reasonable. Katsuya sighed, nodding.

“I know. You can tell a lot about someone from the company they keep. Maya and I… we haven’t known you kids for very long, but I’d have to be blind to not realize that you’re the kindest, most stubborn group of teenagers I’ve ever met.” He smiled weakly, before shaking his head. “Ren… he reminds me of… one my brothers. Someone who felt like the world was against him, and kept pushing people away. Or… well, let others push him away.” He sighed, finding a dilapidated chunk of concrete of lean against, and slowly dropped to a sitting position. “I wish I could have been better to him. I wish Maya was here. She’s better at this than I am.”

Morgana looked toward the sky. “...You know, you hold Amano-san in really high regard. Why?”

He shrugged. “She tries her hardest to make the best out of a bad situation. She could be dying and bleeding on the ground, and be more worried about you than herself. She’s the antithesis of everything Nyarlathotep stands for.” He closed his eyes. “I just got lucky enough to marry her.”

“Suou-san…”

“I wish I was more like her. So that I could show Amamiya-kun that things aren’t hopeless. That whatever lies are being trickled into his head are just that- lies. But I can’t smile like she does. Or see the world through those same Amano-tinted glasses.” He traced his fingers against the dusty ground, biting his lip. “...I can’t even help her when she’s worried. If Maya keeps thinking that she needs to be the bigger person all the time, I’m worried that…”

“You’re worried that she’ll hurt herself?” Morgana asked, shaking his head. “...I see. So doubt is just as much a part of love than belief. But aren’t you contradicting yourself? The same things that you love about her are the same things that you want her to give up?”

He nodded, slowly. “Yes. That’s what’s so tricky about it.” He kept his eyes closed, thinking. He could picture Maya, vividly. Her eyes twinkling with excitement at the smallest things. Her laugh filled with an ageless sense of happiness and wonder. Her smile bright enough to light up the darkest of nights. In a world like this, where people only knew pain… for how long could she smile? 

“...Suou-san, you know we’re not even sure if she made it, right?” Morgana asked. “I don’t want to bring it up, but…”

“She’s alive.” Katsuya said, curtly. “I can feel it. My Persona feels it. It feels worried, scared… lonely without her. But the fact that it feels that way means that there’s another piece of me that I’m lonely about. And that’s her. She’s my missing piece, and I’m hers.” He slowly opened his eyes, wiping the demonic liquids that continued to fall from the sky away from his face. “...Standing on our own two feet, looking toward the future. That’s what she would want us to do. We’re going to make this right.”

Morgana nodded, staring up at the temple. “...So, we need to stop Ren. He’s stronger than us, though. If we’re unprepared, he’ll... “

“Kill us? If Nyarlathotep keeps eroding his humanity, then that’s a likely possibility. But that’s a risk we have to take. He hesitated while preparing to finish you off. That means that deep down, he still cares about you. Still understands that you’re his friend, as much as Nyarathotep is trying to block it out.”

Morgana sighed, sadly. “Our bond. It’s something that can’t be broken. Or… so I thought.” He slowly sat down, shaking his head. “But it’s not like I can fight for much longer.”

Katsuya blinked. “Hm? Why’s that?”

“I’m from the Velvet Room. And… I feel like I’m being called back. It’s far and faint, maybe because this place is disrupting my connection to it, but eventually I’ll have to answer that call. Whether I like it or not.” He said, before standing up. “Fine. I’ll just have to save Ren before that happens.” He smirked, folding his arms. “An easy feat for a Phantom Thief.”

Katsuya chuckled, before nodding. “Right. We’ll need to push forward, no matter what. The future is ours as long as we stay positive.” He said, before feeling a warmth inside his chest. He looked up, watching as Helios burst forth. His Persona began to flash and glow, before a beacon of light shot from it and into the air. It stopped abruptly, forming into a ball of light that slowly drifted towards Katsuya and Morgana. They braced themselves, before it seemed to come to a stop, and they were both staring at the shimmering, robed form of Maia.

“What…?” Morgana whispered.

“Maya’s Persona…” Katsuya said, before nodding with a smile. “I understand. As long as I keep her in my heart, I’ll stay strong. For her, and for everyone.” Both Helios and Maia grew closer, glowing and fusing together into another burst of bright energy. Once the light died down, Katsuya stared at the glowing form of Hyperion. Although it was different. The Persona was wielding a massive, shimmering bow and arrow, and a large glowing shield with an emblem of a mighty sun emblazoned upon it.

_”I am the prime Hyperion. The father of all heavenly bodies. With the might of the sun and the love of the moon, I shall see you towards justice.”_

Katsuya nodded, as his Persona faded. Morgana grinned, folding his arms. “Looks like old dogs can learn new tricks.”

“Who are you calling old, cat?” 

They laughed for a brief moment, before staring upward. It seemed like in the few moments they weren’t paying attention, Ren had managed to push his way through the swarm of angels. The ‘rain’ had stopped, giving them a brief moment to try and wipe the slick, disgusting substance from themselves. They cleaned themselves off to the best of their ability, before hearing the sound of metal grinding against dirt coming from behind them.

“Ta-aa-aake me… with-- y-y-ouu-y-ou…” 

They turned back to the source of the voice, the two of them recoiling in brief horror as they saw something that looked… human-esque. A humanoid, metal form with a stark-white body that was slowly dirited by grime, blood, and whatever other debris was native to here. Oil and sparks seemed to shoot from its joints as it dragged itself toward Katsuya and Morgana. Short, blonde hair was matted against an expressionless robotic face as the machine dragged itself closer and closer. It ‘spoke’ again, its lips not moving, but a facilime of a teenage girl’s voice seemed to stutter and drag itself out.

“P-lee-aa-ssee… I-I-I- Pl-eeaaa-sse..” It shuddered, stopping for a moment, before attempting to push itself to its feet. It stumbled towards them, its arms out pathetically, like a toddler trying to hold its balance. Katsuya quickly noticed that whatever this machine was, its joints had been slashed through and heavily damaged. It took a step, before slamming into the ground. “T-ttwoo.. Per-so-naaa-aa-a us-erss.. go-goo--od? Pl-eea-ass-ee..”

Katsuya walked over, slowly helping the machine up. It leaned into him, hands desperately grasping for stability as they clung onto his suit. He sighed, glancing back at Morgana for a moment, before looking back at the machine. “I… I don’t think you’re exactly in the shape to come with us.” He said, calmly. Not… exactly sure why he was trying to soothe a machine, but something about it felt… different. Human. Like a child struggling.

“I--I-I am Ai-Ai-g-gg-gg… f-aaii-llure.. l-loss-ss-t... n-need to h-he-heel-pp-p.” It whimpered. 

Katsuya frowned. “What was your name? Ai? You seem pretty hurt already, Ai-chan.”

The machine took a step back, wobbling slightly as it reached into it’s wrists, ripping out what looked like some sort of small firearm. It handed it to Katsuya. “W-weaa-poons..”

Morgana folded his arms. “Well, weapons are useful to have. Bringing her along might be useful in the long run.”

Katsuya nodded, before picking up Aigis, placing her on his back. She tried to stabilize herself, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “...T-t-thaa-aan-k you…” She said, weakly. Katsuya nodded, before glancing upward. “But… we still need a way up to the Shijima Temple.”

_Perhaps I can assist with that.”_ A booming voice called from the heavens. It’s form was difficult to make out, but the massive wings and glowing, almost golden body was a sight to truly behold. 

“A demon…?” Morgana asked. Katsuya shook his head.

“No. An angel.”

* * *

Uriel was perhaps the second most fair of God’s archangels, trailing shortly behind Gabriel. His facial features seemed to be carefully crafted into that of a young man with purely emerald green eyes, although his musculature relayed strength. His skin was an elegant sky blue, with short blonde hair that gently floated in the midst of the winds. His wings were smooth and carefully maintained, baby blue feathers gently shifting into that of a cloud-like white, growing longer and sharper the further they appeared down the wings. He wore dull, maroon armor that covered his torso and legs, and a white and gold sash that bore the mark of the Saviors cross spanned his chest. In one hand he held a shimmering blade, radiating with a godly heat.

Raphael seemed to be crafted similarly to Uriel, although his features were slimmer and more defined compared to Uriel’s softer traits. His skin was the gentle color of lilacs, his eyes a brilliant sea-green. His hair was wild, slicked into a spiked mullet the color of the sunrise. His wings were wide, the feathers messy and pointed. Still, his form seemed to exude a sense of kindness and purity, one that could soothe a crying child, or lay one calmly to their final resting place. His armor was a deep blue, adorned with bright white and gold sashes that displayed holy symbols. He held a glistening blade in one hand that radiated with a holy warmth.

Michael looked the most mature out of the three archangels, his features more resembling a man in the prime of his life. He had cold, judgemental eyes the color of pine, and his skin was a fiery orange. Dark hair was slicked backward, his carefully crafted face littered with small scars and wounds from constant battle. His wings were large and mighty, their colors resembling that of a dying sunset as they transitioned. He only wore golden armor on his torso, worn from battle. A long, white robe surrounded his waist, blowing gently. His feet and legs were bare, the only defense being a dull, black guard on both of his shins. Muscular arms gripped a spear that was burning with divine judgement.

The Temple of Shijima was massive. The walls were high and made of a shimmering white, almost porcelain material, and massive golden pillars reached up to the very heavens. Murals of various biblical events marked the walls, starting from Genesis and spanning all the way to Revelations. The main foyer of the temple was wide- much wider than it would have seemed, splitting into several halls, chapels, and amphitheaters. Although the main objective was a room to the back, after a large set of stairs embedded with the holy scripture in a myriad of languages, and blocked off by a massive gilded door that had the image of the morning star emblazoned onto it. The floor was littered with the bodies of dying angels, and the spilled blood from angels that had passed on. Each strike and stab echoed throughout the large chamber, the sounds of battle fresh in everyone’s ears.

All three divine messengers were covered with scars, golden blood trickling from their bodies as they stood limp, standing against the fiend-like man in the black trenchcoat, and the demons that followed behind him. A battle had been raging, only to come to a brief standstill, to the hearty appreciation of the angels who were quickly losing momentum. The young man in black was practically radiating an energy that was not familiar to man or demon. A power that was far out of his control, as if his body was being puppeted by even more unholy forces than the devil that ruled over the demons as of now. The Archangels had managed to tear through a hearty amount of his fiends, the only ones remaining being Mother Harlot and the Horsemen of Death and War.

Uriel spat, his arms shaking as he held his arms outward, blade in hand. _”Nngh. Damn it all… I was never aware of the might of humans. I underestimated the scale of this battle, and lost lives because of it. Our Lord must be staring upon me in shame…”_

Raphael shook his head. _”Dear Uriel. Do not speak that way. To be fighting in His name is nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, this is no ordinary human. You do agree Michael, do you not?”_

Michael’s eyes were closed, uttering a brief prayer under his breath. _”Our Lord and God, we have failed you once more. First by becoming naught more than underlings to your fallen child, Lucifer, and now to be executed by one of your very Children. Please, forgive your pathetic servant Michael, and his kin.”_ His eyes opened, as he stared down Joker, brandishing his spear with a scowl. _”Raphael is correct. This human is distorted, tugged along by a light not his own. Cruelty is not in his heart. Gabriel must have felt it as well.”_

Uriel’s wings flapped with an air of irritation. _”Gabriel… if she were here, then we would have been able to fuse into God’s Chariot and win without any apprehension!”_ He paused, before looking at the other two angels. _”Perhaps we could try to fuse anyway?”_

Michael shook his head. _”An imperfect Chariot is prone to crash.”_

Joker yawned, folding his arms. “Are you all going to continue talking, because I have a meeting with Lucifer, and frankly- I don’t want to leave him waiting.” He stepped forward, as the archangels brandished their weapons. He scoffed, shaking his head. “I don’t get you all. If you’re truly the angels of God, why are you following Lucifer? You should be helping me out. I mean, you all remember me. I’ve summoned you all before, we should be on the same side.”

Michael laughed. _”I see you have a silver tongue like our corrupted kin. It is true that Lucifer is an enemy of God. It is also true that you have called upon our power. But the young man who called upon us, and the young man who stands before us at this moment are two very different people.” The angel closed his eyes for a moment. “The Great Will always has a plan higher than us. The sun shall shine on humanity once again, and so I posit this to you, young one. What is it like being puppeted by a being in order to be used as a weapon against your very own people?”_

Joker tensed, brandishing his knife. “I’m not a puppet!”

Raphael sighed. _”It is no use, Michael. He is set in his path. One of the great beauties and follies of humanity. We are unable to steer him as angels. One could only hope that a human may be able to.”_

_”So we stand together and fight to defeat this young man, and defend Lucifer?”_ Uriel said, smirking slightly. _”Defending a fallen angel… how ridiculous. But I will fight for as long as I need to. It is what Gabriel and our Lord would want.”_

_”Excellently spoken, Uriel.”_ Michael said, his wings flaring outward. _”Now, young man. It is time to end this.”_ He prepared to charge forward, before another demon suddenly spoke, cutting them off. 

_”Fucking yikes. Enough with the grandstanding and God-talk. Lucifer wants you back in the throne room. Apparently he actually gives a shit about you all living. Aren’t family ties beautiful, or whatever. Nonetheless, go on along. I got this.”_

A demon approached Joker. His skin was a deep, dark brown, and his hair was shaggy and grey. Red eyes stared from under a massive bronze helmet that was decorated with a high, defined fin-like structure, and two high, curling horns, and etchings on the helmet seemed to make it resemble the head of a fish. His chest was covered by two concave pieces of metal that flared outward, his waist and lower body elegantly covered by a dull, seafoam green robe that was slightly opaque. His wrists and legs were covered by metal guards, also designed with fin-like protrusions. The demon was holding a chalice calmly, gently sipping from it as he approached, and shooed the angels away. While the angels were gargantuan in size, with large heavy wings and massive stature, this demon was human in size- making his condescending motions all the more insulting. The angels stared on bitterly, before exchanging glances before doing as they were told, walking away reluctantly. Uriel made a motion as if he was preparing to stab the demon with his sword, before Raphael caught the other angels wrist and continued to usher him away from the battle.

Joker grinned. “You know, I could have finished them off easily.”

_”I know.”_ The demon said calmly, still drinking from his chalice. _”If I wasn’t ordered to intercept, I would have let you carve them open without hesitation.”_

“Harsh.”

_”Eh. Anyways, you’ve summoned me before, but to keep introductions in order- I am Demon Lord Ba’al. My informants told me Lilith kicked the bucket, so I’m just going to go ahead and introduce myself as Lucifer’s Right Hand.”_

“I thought that’d be Satan.” Joker chided.

_”Fuck you.”_ Ba’al replied, before tossing away his chalice. He glanced behind Joker, before chuckling. _”Looks like it’s you and me.”_

Joker blinked, turning around to see that his Fiends had very quickly bailed on him. He scowled, before turning back to Ba’al. “Fine. I can handle one demon on my own. Come at me whenever you're ready.”

Ba’al shrugged. _”Hang on, let me do this first. I know you’re powerful, after all. So I may as well go all out.”_ He rolled his shoulders back, before his body began to contort and bulge. Bones began to snap and twist as he grew larger and larger, his red eyes beginning to bulge and push from their sockets, his skin changing from a deep tan to a disgusting blue. His helmet clattered to the floor, before being stomped on by a bare foot as toes began to lengthen, sharpen, and fuse together. His teeth began to sharpen and twist into mandibles, snapping together as his tongue lashed out of his mouth, becoming more armored and bone-ridden. His former skull and spine snapped out the back of his twisting body, being gripped by a disgusting, insect-like limb that began to form from his back. He continued to transform, a deep, pain-ridden, maniacal laugh echoed through the chamber. Once the transformation was complete, a hulking, insect-like monster stood before Joker, wielding its former skeleton as a staff as it pointed it towards the thief. Massive wings began to flap, filling the air with a maddening buzzing sound. It spoke, it’s voice distorted and disgusting as drool and spittle frothed from what could only be assumed was a mouth.

_”I suppose ‘Ba’al’ was the wrong way to introduce myself… call me... **Lord Beelzebub**.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> when the archangels spoke about 'fusing into God's Chariot', I was talking about the Merkabah- so points to whoever picked up on that little thing.


	28. Sae Punches Satan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tokyo regains access to the internet. Sae punches Satan. 
> 
> The Fall begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually come up with chapter titles on the fly but I had this one locked and loaded.
> 
> Also this... this is a beefy chapter. I didn't realize it until I checked the page numbers and went '17 pages??? the fuck???'. It's also 19 in times new roman 12 point font. For those english teachers out here reading my fever dream of a persona fanfiction.

A break was what the entire group needed, apparently. Sae sat quietly, looking around as the other Persona-users quietly chatted and murmured. It was strange, in a sense. She knew that this entire group was filled with strangers and brief acquaintances, and yet they were talking as if they knew each other for years. Tatsuya had mentioned that Persona-users were stronger when they were bonded together. But it was strange… she felt even closer to these people who she had just met than any of her coworkers. She had never been incredibly social, but this sense of reliability and hope… it was bizarre, in a way.

“That’s just how it is.” Ryuji said, suddenly. She looked over at him as he lounged against the wall, giving her a warm smile. “You’re feelin’ at home with everyone here, right? It’s weird. But… once you got a Persona- it’s like you’re part of some kind’a secret club. Or some kinda community. You know for a fact that you’re not alone, because almost everyone else like you has the same sorta resolve you got.” He frowned briefly, eyes narrowing. “Guess the key word is ‘almost’, huh.”

“Akechi-kun.” Sae said, nodding. “A shame, really. I could tell he was a bright young man, but to hear that he went down such a dark and twisted path…”

Naoto seemed to be thinking. “I can’t say I’m a fan of him. He damaged the reputation of ‘Detective Princes’ to come. But if he truly had the sense of will and awareness of self to awaken to a Persona, then perhaps things could have turned out differently for him.”

There was a quiet, yet admonishing scoff from Mitsuru. While the other woman certainly seemed to emanate an air of dignity, her current condition left her more quiet and ponderous- and her interjections in the conversations that passed had been short- mainly due to a constant shortness of her own breath. Sae had the feeling that Mitsuru should be hospitalized rather than trying to act in the thick of things like everything else, but getting to a hospital in a demon-infested Tokyo seemed incredibly complicated- and there was the chance that the hospital would be only stained in blood and lost hopes rather than be able to provide any sort of real assistance. 

“A Persona… isn’t indicative of ‘goodness’.” She replied, her tone bitter. “It’s… indicative of willpower… and there are plenty of wicked people who have… wielded similar power to us… you should know… Shirogane-san…” Mitsuru’s expression had been difficult to read for most of the time being, but this seemed to be stirring forth memories that caused her brow to furrow, and her jaw to tense. Her eyes- like Naoto’s- were oozing with some unknown black fluid, but Sae could tell there was some sadness behind them. Sae glanced over at Naoto, raising an eyebrow.

“What does she mean, Shirogane-sama?” Sae asked. “Does this have anything to do with your cases?”

There was legitimate curiosity in her voice. It was hard not to be. Sae had never really considered herself much of a ‘fangirl’ in regards to anything- she didn’t have the time for that. However, when it came to the accomplishments of women in fields similar to hers, the name ‘Shirogane Naoto’ came up fairly often. The story of a young woman masquerading as a man in order to gain influence and respect amongst her peers, slowly eroding at the corruption that stained the underbelly of Japan with sheer intelligence and a pistol at her hip. Sae remembered that Makoto had quickly become a fan- her younger sister was a fan before Shirogane’s gender became common knowledge, purely because of how forceful and eloquent the detective was. Sae had often found herself listening to one of Shirogane’s interviews while working on papers- surprised at just how young the detective was (she assumed they were about the same age)- and slowly find herself becoming more and more enraptured until her work became a thing of the past, and she was staring at the T.V with the attentiveness as if she was listening to the Prime Minister.

So, when she realized she was going to be partnered with Akechi, there was also that feeling of excitement. The title of ‘Detective Prince’ wasn’t handed out without merit, and while Akechi was certainly intelligent, he seemed to harbor more of a duplicitous nature even before she knew of his true goals and ideals. He kept things close to his chest, had an air of condescension about him, and most of his conclusions seemed to come at strangely convenient times with little evidence. Which made sense in the long run- he had been the one orchestrating the cases he ‘solved’. It was a shame, though. Perhaps in another world, they could have been close friends. More than just tense coworkers that happened to be investigating the most irritating case in all of Japan, the Phantom Thieves. 

“Adachi Tohru,” Naoto continued, answering Sae’s question. “He had a Persona as well, and his ideals were far from just. Based on the information I acquired with help from a close friend, he, Adachi-san, and a man named Namatame were gifted power by the goddess Izanami. My friend and Adachi both had the sense of self and the willpower to form that power into Personas. The third man, Namatame, couldn’t utilize the power to the fullest, so it wasn’t as if the power of ‘Persona’ was easily obtainable.”

“In conclusion, you simply have to recognize yourself to use a Persona. No matter what your goals, ideals, or thoughts are.” Sae murmured, rubbing her chin.

“Seems about right,” Tatsuya grunted. “In… my time, there were ‘Reverse Personas’. Each Persona represents an arcana in some way, shape, or form. However, the arcanas have both an ‘upright’, and a ‘reversed’ meaning. My original Persona, Vulcanus, is that of the upright Sun. However, I had to face a man named Sudou, and his Persona- ‘Reverse Vulcanus’- represented the reversed Sun.” He shrugged. “I just felt as if it was important to add.”

Maruki, who had been excitedly listening to this entire conversation, nodded. “All of my research into cognitive psience, and I didn’t realize there was so much more to it. You all come from so many different experiences and walks of life… so many different encounters with gods, shadows, demons- physical manifestations of the metaphysical mind. I had stopped my research after Ama- after Joker-kun and the Phantom Thieves managed to talk me back to my senses, but I’d love to take some time to interview you all.”

“If you’ve got snacks, I’m down.” Ryuji said, grinning.

Maruki scratched the back of his head. “I feel like I’ve gotten to know you and your friends plenty… but I am always available if you wish to talk.”

“Actually, Maruki-san…” Mitsuru murmured. “We’ve been looking into you for a while… with your knowledge, you’d be a valuable asset to the Shadow Operatives…” She offered, as Maruki’s eyes seemed to light up. “...Although, if you would like some time to consider it, that’s fine. We are in a fairly stressful situa--”

“I accept, Kirijo-san! As if I would pass up the offer to work with the Kirijo Group!” He replied, excitedly. Sumire giggled, clapping her hands together.

“Congratulations Doctor Maruki! I’m sure you’ll do wonderful!”

Ryuji applauded lightly as well, chuckling. “Lookit you, Doc!”

Mitsuru smiled, shaking her head slightly. “Honestly… I had some propositions for you Phantom Thieves as well, before I knew you were all minors… and before that entire… situation occurred.”

Sumire shook her head. “...I don’t think my dad would let me be a ‘Shadow Operative’... he got worried when I said I wanted a summer job at the convenience store…”

Ryuji groaned. “My mom probably wouldn’t be too psyched about it either, but she doesn’t know I’m a Phantom Thief either. So- I mean, maybe we can come up with some dope ass cover story- like I was selected to be in some student program or somethin’.”

“Don’t you need good grades for that, Skull-senpai…?” Sumire asked. Ryuji groaned, slowly sinking lower to the floor.

“Et tu, Violet…?” He mumbled.

Their moment of conversation was breached by one of the civilians that they saved, who walked over tentatively. Most of his clothing was gone, and numerous bite marks littered his body. Sae wasn’t exactly fond of thinking about whatever Lilith and her demons had done to him. He cleared his throat, tentatively as the group glanced over at him. “Uh… sorry to interrupt… but you guys are the ones with superpowers and stuff, right? I was just… well- I heard somebody mention that ‘Satan’ was outside, and people were just curious if that was like a metaphor or…”

Tatsuya shook his head. “No. There is a demon no more than twenty feet away from us. It is representative of the true, biblical Satan. When we leave here, you will see him. He is more than a dozen feet tall, with massive wings, an armored hide, and a face that will give you nightmares for years on end. That being said, you will need to keep moving, and you will need to keep your cool- or else you’ll be eaten alive.”

The man gulped. “O-Oh…”

Sumire quickly stepped in, giving the citizen a bright smile. “There’s nothing to worry about though! We’ll be able to handle anythiii--” 

The ground shook violently, sending the building into a frenzy as chunks of the ceiling fell. The sky seemed to flash with various lights, all originating from where the Kirijo Building was. Sae watched as Tatsuya tensed, catching the briefest silhouette of his Persona, before there seemed to be a slight jump in time, and all of the debris was shattered instantaneously. Sae looked at Tatsuya curiously. He had expressed similar abilities during their fight, but never truly revealed what it was. She began to ask.

“What was th--”

“Apollo has more power than just fire.” He replied, simply. He glanced over at her. “Let’s just say that I’m close friends with Chronos.”

“Okay, Tatsuya’s powers aside, what was THAT?” Ryuji asked, looking outside. 

“Probably the others fighting with Izanagi.” Tatsuya replied coolly, pulling out his lighter and flicking it open and shut. Naoto was the one to seem shocked this time around.

“Iza… nagi?” She asked, tentatively. Tatsuya shrugged. 

“Some Persona-user lost themselves and got consumed by their own power. Transformed into the god Izanagi. Why? Do you know someone associated with Izanagi?”

“Yes!” Naoto said, with a sense of urgency and intensity that seemed to startle Tatsuya ever so slightly. “Narukami-san! He was my senpai in high school, and one of my close friends! We have to help him if he’s in trouble!” She exclaimed. Tatsuya shook his head- before realizing that Naoto couldn’t see him emote, so he was forced to continue speaking.

“It’s no use. You can’t see it, but look. The sky is clearing.” He pointed up at the air for everyone else, and it was. Sae hadn’t really been paying much attention to the atmosphere, but the place where Izanagi had been ‘born’ was constantly surrounded by swarming storm clouds. Of course, they seemed to be slowly fading away. Not abruptly enough as if Izanagi had been instantly defeated, in her opinion. Perhaps something else had happened. Still… any victory was a good one. 

“Perhaps we could regroup there?” Sae suggested. Tatsuya nodded. 

“If we regroup and regain our bearings with other Persona-users, we can then spread out and clear out the rest of the demons in the city.” Tatsuya planned, before looking around. “Does that sound good to everyone?”

“You certainly seem to know what you’re doing, Tatsuya-san,” Maruki noted, tapping his chin. “When exactly have you come into contact with so many demons?”

“Ooh! Ooh! Lemme answer!” Ryuji yelled. “Tatsuya-san comes from an alternate universe!”

There was a brief moment of silence, before Tatsuya cleared his throat. “...Right. There are two direct timelines that split from the events in Sumaru City in 1999. One timeline where we were defeated, the world as we knew it was destroyed by a massive-scale spell called the Grand Cross, and any remaining humans had to scrounge for survival against demons and a growing world of chaos. That’s where I come from. This timeline, filling with what seems like hope and promising Persona-users on a daily basis- comes from the timeline where we were able to stop the Grand Cross and change our fate.” He explained, in the simplest way possible. 

“I… see…” Maruki mumbled, “Well, I’m sure that’s very stressful, Tatsuya-san. I don’t have an office, but if you would like to swing by my apartment once this is over, I’m sure you have a lot to talk about and get off your chest.”

Tatsuya frowned, scratching his chin. “I don’t need therapy…” He mumbled, before sighing. “Actually… I may take you up on that offer…the therapist in Sumaru was pretty good, after all.”

Briefly forgotten, the civilian that had been talking to the group earlier slowly stood up after being knocked down from the ground shaking. He coughed, clearing his throat. “Uh- sorry to bother you all again- but those two kids in the masks… aren’t they Phantom Thieves?”

Sumire giggled nervously. Ryuji glared at the man. “Yeah? You gotta problem with that?”

The man folded his arms. “Well, isn’t this all the Phantom Thieves fault? That’s what I’ve been hearing.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong.” Mitsuru spoke up, forcing her voice to be more clear and piercing. “Someone infiltrated the Kirijo Group, impersonated me, and used the Phantom Thieves as a scapegoat. Before you recklessly believe what others tell you, take the briefest moment to form your own opinion instead of following along with everyone else like a coward." 

“Kirijo-san…” Sumire whispered.

“K-Kirijo Mitsuru-san?!” The man yelled. Sae looked over his shoulder, watching as the other civilians they saved were staring, and the few that still had pants on were pulling out their phones and taking pictures. “Wait- and is that Shirogane Naoto? You both have superpowers?! And you’re- wait, aren’t you that-” He pointed at Sae, she shook her head.

“I’m nobody important.”

“Awfully pretty for a nobody. Listen- I might not be able to fight demons, but maybe we can go out for a drink or s--”

“Go back to the others. Now. We’re discussing something important.” Sae ordered. He gulped, before slowly backing away. Sae, Ryuji, and Sumire slowly carefully turned their backs towards the cameras, and their faces away. 

Ryuji frowned. “Jeez… first rule of a Phantom Thief is not to get caught, or somethin’...”

Sumire reached in her jacket pocket and carefully pulled out her phone. “Oh, look! The internet is back! And… uhm… well, the first thing these people are doing are posting their pictures. Luckily, the lighting is kind of bad, so none of our faces are in focus…” She gave the others a sheepish look. Maruki pulled out his phone as well, frowning.

Tatsuya nodded slightly. “Well, that’s confirmation Izanagi is defeated. With his power, he was most likely blocking any sort of signals both coming in and going out, which is why support has been so limited. Considering that these photos are the first things to come from Tokyo after a strange bout of radio silence, it’s no wonder they’re popular.”

“Your ‘Phan-site’ is blowing up as well.” Maruki added. “Look.” He held out his phone, as multiple messages seemed to flood a text box on the site.

* * *

**ANON:** yooo are those the phantom thieves?  
**ANON:** i don’t recognize that girl one with the ponytail. Is she new?  
**ANON:** Do they recruit? How’d she get in?  
**ANON:** people online are saying they legit have superpowers. Like, summoning ghosts or whatever and beating up demons  
**ANON:** stands? Like in jojos?  
**ANON:** looool fake  
**ANON:** [DELETED BY ADMIN]

* * *

Ryuji chuckled, shaking his head. “Holy shit… Mishima’s in the middle of the apocalypse and he’s still trying to run the damn site.”

“At least he’s okay!” Sumire chirped, happily, still squinting at the messages on the site. She frowned. “...I really should have brought my glasses.”

* * *

**ANON:** why TF is nobody talking about the detective prince sitting right there with fucking goop in her eyes  
**ANON:** isn’t that the shit that happened to okumura??? Yo is she dead???  
**ANON:** she looks like she’s talking in some of these pics. Whys she hanging out with thieves tho??  
**ADMIN:** _UPDATE FROM PEOPLE AT THE SCENE: Shirogane Naoto is alive, Kirijo Mitsuru says that the ‘Mitsuru’ that leaked the calling card and was responsible for the coming events was, in fact, an impostor. Also, the PT are innocent._  
**ANON:** i was legit just about to ask who that really thin red-head woman was but i guess that answers it. So like… some evil lady impersonated one of the most influential women in japan? The fuck?  
**ANON:** jeez… is that kirijo? She’s seen better days…  
**ANON:** lets go back to talking about that redhead in the black mask because i’d defo ******  
**ANON:** gross.  
**ANON:** she looks fuckin 12 what the hell are u on mate  
**ANON:** [DELETED BY ADMIN]  
**ANON:** VERY KAWAII!! MUCH LOVE FROM USA!!!  
**ANON:** do you think thats…. Kirijos daughter????  
**ANON:** isn’t kirijo like 30. That girl looks like a teenager.  
**ANON:** as if teenage pregnancies dont exist. probably a scandal tho.  
**ANON:** yo admin someone is starting a stream on the scene can you host it on here?  
**ADMIN:** It might be kind of laggy but ok.

* * *

“...I didn’t miss this.” Ryuji groaned. He looked over at the group of civilians. “Stop takin’ fuckin’ pictures! We’ll be goin’ in a second! Damn!”

Sumire looked at her phone. “Someone is starting a livestream.”

“WHY?” He looked back, watching as one of the people slowly scooted closer with their phone. Ryuji scowled, summoning his Persona for a brief moment as a bolt of lightning shot and zapped the phone. The Phan-site seemed to flood with even more messages after that.

* * *

**ANON:** HE HAS A STAND????  
**ANON:** WRRRYYYYY  
**ANON:** M O N K E Y  
**ANON:** CAN SOMEONE GET A SCREENGRAB OF THAT PLEASE THAT WAS COOL AS FUCK  
**ANON:** i’m telling you guys this is fake. Jfc.  
**ANON:** Coming from someone in Tokyo right now? This is very, very real. Also- if the Phantom Thieves are reading this, there are people trapped in the subway station. We’d appreciate some help.  
**ANON:** fuck u and the subway station kek  
**ADMIN:** I’m creating a separate chat for people to give their locations for the Phantom Thieves assistance. Anybody who spams false information or nonsense is automatically banned.  
**ANON:** [DELETED BY ADMIN]  
**ANON:** [DELETED BY ADMIN]  
**ANON:** about to get my dick sucked by a demon lmao poggers  
**ANON:** bro???????  
**ANON:** still think this is fake. Look at that buff dude in the featherman costume. This is just a big, crazy marketing stunt.  
**ANON:** yo is that niijima sae?????  
**ANON:** where???  
**ANON:** with the silver hair!!!  
**ANON:** no fuckin way.  
**ANON:** yeah dude thats not niijima dont say dumb shit like that.

* * *

“I think now is as good a time as any to get going.” Tatsuya stated, getting up to his feet and stretching. He looked outside, before helping Mitsuru up, adjusting her as she slid onto his shoulders. He turned to the civilians that were watching them like hawks, before glancing back at Mitsuru. “You seem like someone of fairly high status. Are you alright with being associated with us like this? That, and… well, being associated with these ‘Phantom Thieves’ and ‘demons’. You seem awfully calm.”

Mitsuru sighed, shaking her head. “Whatever consequences come with my reputation are well-deserved. The Shadow Operatives were created in order to prevent the public from learning about demons and Shadows, and keep them safe. As of now, we’re failing in regards to both.”

“But… you’re really powerful, right? I mean, names like ‘Kirijo’ and ‘Nanjo’ are practically higher than some government officials.” Sumire noted, folding her arms. “Something like this…I would think you would be able to cover it up, right?”

“People believe what they wish. Some people will deny this event occurred no matter how many lives are lost, or how far it spreads. Some people will desperately try to assert the realness of the situation. No matter what the overwhelming narrative is, the best thing to do is downplay and follow along. It worked for Nanjo during the Mikage-cho incident.” Mitsuru explained.

“What Mikage-cho incident?” Ryuji asked.

“Exactly. This isn’t the first demon-related incident, and it won’t be the last. There are even groups that operate outside of Nanjo and I, that even we have trouble getting a hold of. Devil Summoners, the Kuzanoha clan-- the only difference between them and what’s occurring now is that this is taking place in a major Japanese city.”

“I’m getting a feeling this is a long way of saying that you don’t know what you’ll do, Mitsuru-san…” Sae interjected. The red-haired woman pursed her lips, before sighing.

“Aptly put. And… well, I’m certainly in no condition for a press conference.”

“You sound better, though!” Sumire said. “Before you could hardly speak!”

Mitsuru chuckled. “I suppose having some real rest has helped. That, some healing magic, and a significant boost in morale by having you all around. But… while the morale is high, we still don’t have a plan to handle Satan, and you certainly don’t seem worried, Tatsuya-san.”

Tatsuya shrugged, adjusting Mitsuru as she clung onto his shoulders. “He’s a high-ranking demon with no known weaknesses. He’s only a fraction of the Demon Lord Lucifer’s power, and he could probably control all of the demons in my Sumaru regardless. I’ve only had the displeasure of fighting him once, and while I obviously escaped alive, I didn’t escape unscathed. He’s incredibly clever, maniacal, and if he gets his claws on any of you- you’re dead.”

Ryuji rubbed his temples. “Gee, Tatsuya-san. When are you gonna tell us the bad news?” He groaned, bitterly.

Maruki frowned. “...So, what? Do we run?”

“I’m guessing that there are more Persona-users back at where the Kirijo building was, right?” Naoto murmured. “So… our best bet is to guide him there, and then overwhelm him.”

Tatsuya nodded. Naoto continued.

“I see. Well, Kirijo-san and I were taken here in an ambulance. We’ll use that as a vehicle to escort the civilians.”

“I’ll ride on my Persona.” Sae said. “Tatsuya-san can tag along with me, if he wants.”

“So… that leaves me to drive the ambulance?” Maruki said. “I can handle that.”

Tatsuya nodded, before heading towards the exit of Lilith’s former ‘office’. He gestured for the civilians to follow behind, as they all slowly made their way down the steps, killing any demons that remained and clearing a path. Eventually, they reached the bottom floor. Tatsuya held out his arm, gesturing for everyone to stay put. 

“I’m going to go out and check if Satan is around, and then keep him occupied for a moment. You’ll have a few seconds to make your move then.”

Sae stepped forward, folding her arms. “Shouldn’t I distract him?”

Tatsuya frowned. “...Why? I understand demons better than everyone here. I can at least strike up a short enough conversation to--”

“But then what’ll happen when we have to leave? My Persona can easily turn into a vehicle, but you’ll be stuck on foot. I’ll keep Satan distracted while you load everyone in, and then we can escape to the ruined Kirijo building together.” Sae stated. “Besides, I encountered that demon before, and now I want to truly settle things. Especially if this is the last time I’ll see it.”

Tatsuya seemed stunned, but quickly got over it, smirking slightly as he began to head toward the back of the building. “Be careful, and don’t be afraid to yell for help.”

Sae nodded, as the others left a different direction. Sae opened the front door to the building that had formerly belonged to Lilith and ran into the middle of the road, looking around as she waited for Satan. She put her hands on her hips, eyes narrowing as a massive Shadow obscured her vision, and the gigantic demon landed in the middle of the street, crashing into the ground. The first time she had encountered Satan alone, her body had been overwhelmed with a sense of fear. Her instincts had dulled, to the point were ‘fight or flight’ hadn’t even been an option. It took all of her willpower to aim her gun at the monster, although she was well-aware now that a revolver would do little more than tickle the gigantic demon. 

_”Human,”_ It rumbled. _”Earlier, I hath implied that thou may one day be strong enough to wield my power. However, that was a mistake. Being ruled by a human is degradation tantamount to being ruled by God himself. That, and thou art nowhere near as strong as me yet, despite awakening to thine’s innate rebellion.”_

Sae scowled slightly. “You’re a talker. I figured Satan would be a bit more… eloquent though. Diplomatic.”

The demon chuckled. _”Thou art mistaking me for Lord Lucifer. A common misconception amongst the human race. However, thou should feel lucky that I am the one you’re encountering, and not he.”_

“Right.” She got down to her knees briefly, resting her hands in her lap before bowing her head deeply.

_”...A bow. So you wish to fight me with honor? Again mistaking me for Lord Lucifer. Honor during a fight means nothing.”_

“Glad to know your boss is such an honorable man.” She said, standing up. “But I didn’t bow for your sake.” She grit her teeth. Aikido bows took a bit longer than the bows in most other martial arts practices. It bought everyone else a couple of seconds, at the very least. “To me, you’re nothing more than the other weaklings that I trained with.” She summoned her Persona, Inanna bursting forth in a flurry of nuclear fire. It didn’t take long for her to dive into action, running forward and leaping towards the massive demon, aiming her fist at the creature. A real sense of scale came to light when she realized that her fist was only as big as his eye. Of course, that’s why she aimed for his eye. Her knuckles dug into the taut organ, black blood spewing outward as the giant demon recoiled. She yanked her fist out with a wet, sickening pop as she began to fall backward. Her Persona swiftly caught her, lowering her to the ground while simultaneously throwing a kick to block one of Satan’s incoming claws. 

Another one of Satan’s arms swung towards Sae and Inanna, as she instinctively threw her arms up in a defensive posture to block it, grunting in pain as blood spewed from her arms as massive, talon-like nails scraped across her forearms. The pressure of the swipe was enough to send her flying, causing her to grunt in pain again as she slammed into a building, her head knocking against concrete. A dizziness filled her head, as her Persona began to struggle and flicker, and she slumped to the ground. Her forehead felt sticky, and she saw the ends of her hair begin to turn from a dull grey to a deep red. 

Clearly Tatsuya wasn’t exaggerating.

She found herself growling as she forced herself to stand again, her Persona throwing several nuclear fireballs towards the demon. She just had to distract him enough for everyone to get into the ambulance, and get enough of a head start so they wouldn’t get caught. She ran towards Satan again, her body feeling like it was on autopilot. Each punch, kick, and block entirely instinctive. Each ‘Frei’ spell cast, each barrier used, each feeble attempt at healing herself- it was for the others.

She had become a prosecutor out of revenge. Her father’s killers had never been convicted- much less found- and so she wanted to create a world where law was final, and those who deserved to get punished were done so dutifully. But she had spiraled out of control, found herself as nothing more than a pawn for a broken system, and sent far too many people away for ‘punishment’ when only a fraction of them deserved so. She had changed her profession to that of a defense attorney after the others had shown her that her justice was not only imperfect, but did more harm than good. Amamiya-kun, the Phantom Thieves, even Makoto.

...Makoto. She wondered if her sister was okay. If she was still in that strange blue room, resting. The last time she had seen her sister as herself was on a television screen, fighting to save a city that considered her a criminal. The last time they had interacted in person was as enemies on the battlefield. 

Satan’s claws tore into her clothes, ripping upward as she was sent careening into the air. She crashed onto the ground, blood dripping from her mouth. She struggled back to her feet, panting, as the air grew cold and she was blasted with a harsh, icy wind that spewed from Satan’s maw. 

...She hoped Makoto was okay. Her sister was supposed to be getting her own apartment. Her sister was supposed to be going to a good college, and become the woman that their father wanted her to be. Someone who never faltered in their justice, no matter what side of the law they sat on. 

...Sae’s own justice seemed to falter so much. When she saw her father again- would he be proud? 

Her Persona flickered and began to fade as Satan picked her up by the neck. She heard the squeal of tires against asphalt, as the ambulance shot out from behind the building they had come from, and quickly started careening down the road. 

“Niijima-san!” Ryuji yelled, “Wait- stop the ambulance- we need to--”

“Keep going!” Sae screamed, “The civilians are the important ones! Keep going!”

She watched as the ambulance continued to rattle down the road, Satan dropping her to the ground and shooting off after it. She moaned, shakily trying to balance herself as she summoned her Persona again, as it gripped onto two of Satan’s carapaced wings, holding the demon back. She roared, as the Persona lifted the massive demon off the ground, and slammed it behind her. The ground shook from the impact, 

“You know… I always wanted to see you again, Dad…” Sae muttered, as Inanna collapsed into its ‘motorcycle’ form, and she wearily climbed on. “...But you’ll have to wait a bit. Sorry.” She revved the engine, as her Persona shot forward, her body wincing as she heard Satan let out a blood-curdling roar.

She glanced behind her, watching as the gargantuan demon took to the skies, chasing after her. She shot down roads, took sharp turns, and yet the demon managed to stay close. A myriad of clawed hands grasped at her back, getting closer and closer, digging in more and more. Her Persona generally left a trail of nuclear fire, but the ground was also becoming muddled with a dull red as well. 

She swerved, as she finally began to catch up with the ambulance. They were reaching the home stretch- the massive clearing where the Kirijo Building used to be was in sight. Another burst of cold wind covered Sae, causing her to lose her balance and fall off of her Persona. Her vision was blurred. Tired. She felt the temperature in the air plummet as Satan prepared another attack, the air slowly coalescing into a sharpened, glowing blue object that was slowly being aimed towards the ambulance. Exhaustion seared through her body as Satan sent a spear of ice towards the ambulance. It grew closer and closer, Sae’s body tensing as she practically felt the screams of the people inside. She threw her hand forward, coughing.

“Ma...karakarn…” She whispered, as the ambulance flashed with a blue light as the ice spear struck true, before jettisoning back towards Satan, the massive attack slamming into its chest and causing the demon to fly backward in a spray of dark blood. 

Sae crawled towards the large demon, climbing onto its chest and summoning Inanna again, forcing her Persona to pick up the massive spear of ice and jab it town into Satan again.

And again.

And again.

Darkened blood splattered against her body, and her vision became blurred. She wasn’t sure if it was from tears or the gore. But she had to keep going. The longer this demon was alive, the more people it would kill. The more destruction it would cause. She couldn’t allow that to happen. 

_”...How… fitting. Destroyed by an agent of law, and my own recklessness…”_ The demon groaned. Her footing began to become less stable as the demon’s form began to shift and lose focus, turning into a pool of dark liquid. _”It… doesn’t matter… Lord Lucifer has come up with a plan that will destroy everything… and finally… bring us salvation…”_

Sae wasn’t listening. Her ears were ringing, and her body ached. The massive gashes that Satan had left were making her lose more blood than she wanted. She slowly turned, watching as several faint forms were running from the chasm of the destroyed building over to her. Satan’s form vanished, as she dropped to the ground, eyes closing. The next thing she felt was her limp body being caught, before everything went dark.

* * *

.

..

…

Moments seemed to drag on, as light slowly began to creep into her vision.

Sae’s eyes slowly fluttered open to meet a pair of similar, piercing red eyes behind a steely grey mask. Despite their intense nature, they were familiar. Comforting. It was a person, and as their features slowly began to come into focus, Sae was met with a sense of relief.

“Makoto… you’re… okay…” She whispered. Her younger sister’s eyes widened, before she felt herself being held tighter.

“That’s my line, sis! You’re okay!” Makoto looked over at a rather large group of Persona-users, mainly a large, bear costume, and an older woman with short brown hair and a beauty mark under her lip. “Sonomura-san, Teddie-san… thank you!”

“It was the least we could do.” Sonomura said. “Defeating a demon like that…”

“It was bear-y impressive!” ‘Teddie’ yelled. “Wowie, Miss Silver-Hair is such a pretty lady, and so powerful too!”

“Was… all luck…” Sae mumbled. “Just barely… reflected his attack…” Her eyes drifted over to Tatsuya, who seemed… well, certainly anxious, but relieved nonetheless. He pulled a lighter from his pocket, flicking it open and shut a few times.

“That spell from Satan had enough strength to kill all of us in one blow.” He said. “...If you hadn’t reflected it, most of us would be dead, and the rest of us would have been wishing we were. Still, I shouldn’t have left you to do something like that. I apologize.”

Makoto looked down at her older sister, before slowly sitting her upright, still holding tightly to her. “Still, sis… you’re a Persona-user! And you managed to beat a strong Shadow, luck or no. I’m proud of you.”

Sae chuckled, before coughing hoarsely, clutching at her wounds- which she realized had been sloppily bandaged with pieces of ripped fabric. “You… did this as a living while you were a Phantom Thief… right? It’s nothing… Speaking of… we need to have a stern, honest talk about your extracurricular…” She stopped, coughing again. Makoto chuckled nervously.

“Just rest, sis. Based on what Makoto- erm, Yuuki-san has been telling us, we’re not out of the woods just yet.” 

“Right.” Three men approached Sae. The first, friendlier looking one of them had silver hair and seemed to be in his twenties. The second man was more stoic and seemed to be at least in his thirties, with messy dark hair that seemed to have a slight purple tint to it. He fiddled with an earring, standing back slightly. The third and more sullen one had blue hair that covered one eye and still seemed to be a high-schooler. The friendlier looking man kneeled down in front of Sae, giving her a sheepish smile. 

“Hi, my name is Narukami Yu. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Although, the last time we met, I wasn’t exactly myself.” He said, and she realized that she vaguely recognized him. He was looking a lot healthier and more… human than he did as ‘Izanagi’, though. His expression grew more grim, and his tone more apologetic. “I seriously apologize for any trouble I have caused you and your sister.”

“Yuuki Makoto,” The sullen-looking boy suddenly said, and Sae assumed that was his way of introducing himself. “Wielder of the Universe Arcana, and also the resident ghost. Good work beating Satan. Would’a handled him with a fusion spell, but you saved me some time. Thanks.” He added, with a yawn. 

The man with the earring finally spoke up. “I’m Toudou Naoya. Me, Narukami-san, and Yuuki-kun were basically picked because we’re the strongest out of everyone here. I guess Tatsuya-san falls in that group too. Basically, we’re here to deliver the bad news that things will probably only get tougher from here.”

“Oh, speaking of, let’s get a sound off for the Persona-users that are still around.” Tatsuya said. “Narukami-san?”

“I’ve got Yosuke, Teddie, Yukiko, Naoto, myself and Adachi-san. So that’s six on team… um, what’s our team name? Team Inaba! Wait, no- the Investigation Team! That’s what we called ourselves in high school.” Yu said. There was the faint sound of cheers from what Sae could assume were Yu’s friends. Tatsuya rolled his eyes. 

“Great. Yuuki-kun?”

The sullen boy yawned. “Yeah, yeah. Sanada-senpai, Kirijo-senpai, Junpei, Yukari-chan, and… well, actually that’s it. So five, counting me. On team, uh, Iwatodai.”

“We’re called the Shadow Operatives now, Yuuki-kun… or, you know… S.E.E.S?” Mitsuru’s voice cut through the crowd. Yuuki shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“I’m abusing my status as field leader. We’re team Iwatodai now.”

Tatsuya sighed. “Alright, Toudou-san?”

“Right,” The earring-adorned man said. “It’s me, Yukino, Maki, and Kei. So four on team… Hermelin. Team Hermelin.”

Tatsuya glanced over at Makoto and Sae, gesturing for them to speak. Makoto cleared her throat, before speaking.

“Queen, Skull, Violet, and Oracle reporting! Niijima Sae and Maruki Takuto as well, so that makes six for the Phantom Thieves.”

“Wow!” Teddie exclaimed. “Kids these days have such strange names! Right, Yosuke?” He turned towards a man with dyed brown hair, who shook his head and gently shoved Teddie to the side.

“Those are nicknames, fur-for-brains…”

Tatsuya gave Yu a look. “Team names were totally unneeded, Narukami-san. But since you’ve started a trend… reporting for Eikichi, Lisa, and myself. So that’s three for… how about team ‘Masked Circle’? But we have a pretty hefty number. Counting everyone up… that’s twenty-four Persona-users. How does that sound for odds against Nyx, Yuuki?”

“Considering the odds were zero when we went up against Nyx in 2009, and there were ten of us then? I’m not sure. But I’m going to be optimistic for once, and assume it’s a higher percent.” Yuuki said, with far too much casualness. 

Yu chuckled. “Right… but, basically our plan is to do what we always do when faced with a super powerful entity. Have some of us throw our hardest spells at it, some of us throw out as many buffs as possible, and have some of us heal. When should we expecting Nyx, Yuuki-kun?”

Yuuki Makoto looked up at the sky. “...What time is it?”

Sumire edged her way through the crowd of Persona-users, holding her phone. “My clock says 11:59. We got here at about nine, but Niijima-san needed a lot of rest…”

“Now, then.” Makoto said, as the clock on Sumire’s phone ticked to midnight. The sky began to pulse, before the entire city seemed to be tinted in a dull-green coloration. Sae hadn’t been paying attention to the moon before, but now it seemed massive, covering a massive portion of the sky. It seemed to slowly be moving closer, before the center of it began to split open with a slight red glow, as it’s coloration shifted from a soft yellow to a metallic grey. 

“It can’t be… the Dark Hour?” Akihiko asked, looking around wildly.

“Yo… we’re fighting that thing? That's the fuckin' moon!” Ryuji gawked. "I'm feelin' a lot less confident..."

“Nyx… it’s been almost ten years…” Mitsuru said, her eyes narrowing. "This time, we'll win without any casualties!"

An immense pressure overtook the group, as almost everyone was pressed and slammed into the ground. Gravity seemed to increase dramatically. She held onto Makoto, slowly trying to push the two of them to a standing position, watching as the others struggled to stand as well. She looked to her side, watching as Futaba summoned her Persona and climbed inside, the craft shaking and twitching as it was lifted into the air. Her voice rang throughout everyone’s heads, as they all felt filled with renewed energy and resolve.

_”Final boss time! Everyone, get ready!”_

Yuuki Makoto folded his arms, seemingly unaffected by Nyx’s massive presence. He summoned his Persona- a humanoid with pale skin, blonde hair mirroring Yuuki’s own style, and a pair of headphones adorning it’s head. A shimmering white scarf was wrapped tightly around its neck, as vibrant red robot-like limbs reached for an instrument on its back. The form reached for a golden lyre, holding it with a sense of comfort and authority. It’s determined blue eyes glared forwards and a terrifying, haunting scream emanated from the red speaker in its chest, the soundwaves visible as they seemed to counteract the pressure emanating from Nyx, allowing the others to stand up with more ease and summon their own respective Personas. Yuuki glared towards the sky, a fury and intensity in his eyes that only the former members of S.E.E.S were able to recognize. A look that only meant one thing. Mass destruction.

“Memento Mori.” He said, “Death is inevitable, but that doesn’t mean we die today. Let’s rock and roll, **Orpheus Telos**!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I look at the 'Major Character Deaths' tag on this fic and sometimes wonder why I even bothered because I end up backing out of so many of the deaths I plan, which sounds horrible but I'm being totally honest.
> 
> Sae was supposed to die this chapter in a very dramatic blaze of glory. Yukino and Maki were supposed to die before Yu stopped being Izanagi. Yusuke is still here despite my best efforts, and I brought back Aigis. Adachi... I mean, Adachi was supposed to die as soon as he showed up. I have no clue why I haven't killed him yet.
> 
> But there's always this weird feeling when I kill off a character. Like when Kei 'died', I was halfway planning on bringing him back, but when Rise died and I said 'eh this one'll stick', I had an instant sense of 'oooh yikes i just killed rise kujikawa oofa doofa'. 
> 
> But I already uploaded the chapter and sometimes you've gotta stick to your very, very questionable guns and your decision to kill off the very cute, popular idol character instead of the literal serial killer.
> 
> .. y. yep. clearly i made the right choice..
> 
> Uh, anyways- this is just me checking in with everyone. Everybody okay? Ya'll good? As of this chapter, the United States is going through what some might call 'a lot'. So, y'know, any American readers stay safe! Everyone stay safe, honestly, no matter where you're from. Your health is important, both physical and mental. Take a walk. Meditate. Unclench your jaw. All of that. Also- it's Pride Month- and all of you are valid! Lots of love from me. If you've made it this far, you're either reading because you're enthralled by my batshit plot, you've been reading for hours and are desperately waiting for me to reach the 'good part' and make your time worth it, or you think this is garbage and are having a laugh while reading this. Either way, each kudos, comment, and hit is incredibly appreciated. 
> 
> We hit 120k words! That's like, a LOT. I could change the names and sell this and Ground Zero as a series of novels if I wanted. Worked wonders for Fifty Shades. 
> 
> I hope you have a great... summer? Holy shit, it's summer already. Time has been FLYING by. Anyways- stay healthy, safe, and wonderful! Thank you all so much!
> 
> \- Wiggityfresh.


	29. Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...I can't get my mind out of those memories
> 
> Now time to tell them "don't take my dream"
> 
> Still music keeps on turning me from the words that hurt my soul
> 
> Removing doubts from my mind..

Maya had expected traversing through a demon-infested Sumaru City to be hard. When it had just been her and the younger Persona-users, it seemed like there were demons all over the place. Rushing around, either scrambling for their next meal or trying not to become another demon’s snack. But… this place felt empty. Familiar buildings were destroyed, like she expected, but there was more to it than just a feeling of loneliness. If felt almost if the entire world was wrong. As if things were slightly off-kilter, despite knowing fully well they weren’t. She looked around, as her boots crunched into the gritty, barren earth. The Persona-users had decided to form a ring around Tamaki and her allies, essentially providing support in every direction in case they got ambushed. But… there was no ambush. No sense of danger. Just a sense of… wrongness.

“You feel it too, Amano-sensei?” Yusuke’s low voice caught her off guard, as she quickly spun to look at him. His eyes were focused behind his mask, his lips tugging downward into a frustrated scowl. “The… ‘aesthetics’ of this world. They’re uneven.”

“Aesthetics?” Maya asked. She wasn’t much of the artsy-type, outside of being able to make a mean sculpture out of playing cards and chopsticks. That being said, Kitagawa Yusuke had to have an eye for this sort of thing. In the research she did before she even approached the Phantom Thieves, Yusuke’s case was one of the most interesting. An orphaned boy who grew up on a track to become one of the top artists in Japan. Rumor had it was that the poor kid was struggling through school on a scholarship. Hell, even Madarame admitted after his heart was changed that he didn’t care enough about the kid to pay full tuition. “Um, please elaborate, Kitagawa-kun.”

“I think I get it--” Kanji’s rough voice rumbled beside Maya, causing her to jump slightly. “Oh- sorry. But like, it don’t matter how messy somethin’ is, there’s still patterns and stuff right? Like if you don’t clean your room, you’re still gonna subconsciously pile up dirty shirts in one spot, and dishes in another, right? Or like, if y’don’t alphabetize your books, you’re still gonna unconsciously find some way to arrange ‘em in a way that makes sense.”

Maya knew that reality… far too well. Kanji-kun was such a big, intimidating guy, but even he knew the value of a clean room? Kids these days were astounding. She was a very lucky woman to have such an organized husband. “O-oh… r-really…? I wouldn’t know…” She mumbled, embarrassed. 

Yusuke nodded. “Exactly. Whether demons are like animals or humans, they’d still be territorial in a sense- associate with demons that look more like them. But look.” He pointed at one of the ruined buildings. Frantic claw marks seemed to scratch at the doors, and feathers seemed to be haphazardly molted across the ground. And, based on how fresh both the markings and the feathers looked, they had to be recent. “This is only a theory… but the world isn’t a cartoon. Beasts and birds don’t spend casual time together, and the lack of blood shows no sign of a scuffle. That, in accordance to the arrangement of the tracks shows that- and again, just a theory- that these creatures were fleeing from something. And the fact that they chose to flee together instead of maiming each other and trying to leave the other in the dust is where the ‘aesthetics’ of the world seem to fall off kilter.”

“Wow, Yusuke.” Ann called out from a few feet behind. “You’d be a pretty good detective!”

“It’s nothing. The world operates on a sense of ‘order’ and ‘aesthetics’. I suppose that’s why the Metaverse intrigued me so much. It was the first time I truly saw a wild, inhumane world… and it was born from human souls.” He smiled to himself. “I still have much to learn, and a lot I still wish to discover.”

Tamaki cleared her throat. “Well, how about we just ask a demon ourselves?” She pulled out her COMP, carefully typing away at it before summoning a Pixie. The small, waifish demon looked around, before biting her lip in an extremely worried fashion as her tiny wings fluttered rapidly.

_”Aw, fuck. Is it time already?”_

“Talk to me, Pixie.” Tamaki said, gesturing for the group to stop walking. 

_”Right. Well, Boss, here’s the thing. You know the Fates? The three Moirae sisters? Atropos, Lachesis, and the third one? Kinda hot bodies, but have fugly clothes, terrible hair, and average-at-best faces? They’re Greek, I think. But like, not party Greek where they drink wine and lay around with their tits out, but boring Greek where they propecise and talk about gods and whatever the fuck. Anyways- you know ‘em?”_

The group stared at Tamaki, who was rubbing her temples, her cheeks turning slightly red. “Entirely irrelevant but… yes- I do know about the Fates. ”

Pixie nodded, absentmindedly playing with her gossamery hair. _”Anyways, rumor says that Atropos, who basically knows when everyone dies- which first of all, like, fuck off? What a fucking bitch, am I right? Who is she to tell me when I die? Like I’ll die whenever I fucking feel like it? Like--”_

“Pixie. Focus.” Tamaki said, snapping her fingers at the demon.

_”Sorry, Boss. Anyways, I heard from someone else that she heard from another demon that Atropos said that one day a like, super hot human is gonna show up. Like, chiseled features, rippling muscles, a fucking MASSIVE co--”_

“Pixie!”

_”I’m just saying what I heard! It’s not like I know Atropos personally. Anyways, this dude is gonna show up in all black, like in a trenchcoat or something, and he’d have a white bird-like mask, and scary eyes like fire! And so this total fucking HUNK would show up and basically wreak hell across this place. Like, cutting throats and killing demons, and totally dismantling the power structure. And when that happens, Lucifer is gonna get fucking slaughtered, and this entire realm would get ka-booshed. The guy is going to usher in a new era of demonkind. Like some kinda messiah or something!”_

“Ka...booshed?” Haru asked. While she had been near the back of the pack, she had slowly grouped up with the others once they stopped, along with Chie. Maya would have asked about the ‘messiah’ thing, but it seemed like Pixie didn’t have that good of an attention span.

_”Yeah, it’s what happened the first time around. The planets aligned or whatever the shit, and then the world ka-booshed, and killed off all those pesky humans! A-ah… except the beautiful and powerful Boss Tamaki-sama and her friends, of cour~se. Ehehe...”_

Maya’s eyes widened.

The Grand Cross.

She… she was forgetting something. Something important. She gripped at her head, growing more and more dizzy as she dropped to one knee. Her vision was blurred as she stared at the barren ground, catching a brief look at her reflection in a shard of cracked, broken glass. Her reflections eyes glinted yellow, before her Shadow spoke with an admonishing scoff.

_”Now you’re remembering. Tell her. Now. Unless you want all of them to die.”_

Maya bit her lip. That… seemed like the right thing to do, but there was something holding her back. First of all, if she told Tamaki… would she even believe her? Things had gotten awkward between them ever since the whole Ulala thing… Maya wouldn’t be surprised if Tamaki suddenly thought that Maya was trying to sabotage the operation out of spite. These were tense times after all, and whatever Tamaki’s interpretation of the ‘Grand Cross’ was had to be their only shred of hope in this timeline. 

_”You’re a moron, Amano.”_ Her Shadow growled. _”But… I suppose I’m a moron as well, then. Ta-ta, then. If you die, I don’t care.”_ Her reflection shimmered, before fading back to normal. Maya hadn’t seen herself in a mirror for a while. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes hollow and dark. The collar on her jacket was uneven, and her makeup was… well, it had seen better days. How long had she looked like this? Since they arrived in the ruined Sumaru? Since the fight with the Jack Frosts? Since the event with Callisto-Ulala? 

But… Tamaki still considered her a ‘messiah’. She was… furious, at Tamaki. What she did to the others was unthinkable, and unforgivable. As if being forced to become a demon was better than death. But… at the same time, she didn’t know everything. Maybe she could find a way to save everyone before the Grand Cross was necessary. Save everyone’s lives without having to butt heads with Tamaki.

“Maya-sensei!” She felt a hand on her shoulder, as Haru and Ann gently helped her up to her feet. “Are you okay?” Haru asked.

Maya frowned, not answering before glancing over at Tamaki. “Tammy. You said… you had dreams. Visions that told us we were coming, and I’m guessing helped you orchestrate all of this too. I… I want you to tell me about them.”

Tamaki blinked, before folding her arms. “Well… they were warm. Every time, I awoke in a field. Gentle, rustling grass greener than I had ever seen. Beautiful flowers sprouting from the ground, in an array of colors.” Her expression softened, as her hardened eyes seemed to glitter in remembrance. “A woman stood before me. I… I couldn’t tell if she was western, or Japanese, or what… but she was beautiful. Her hair was long and wavy, and the color of straw. No… like the morning sun. Uh, blonde? In the best way possible. Her eyes were a glittering blue, the color of the east sea… or, maybe they were more of a soft orange, like the color of the sea at sunset.” She smiled, her firm arms-crossed posture slowly transitioning into holding herself, in an almost childlike manner. “She… she didn’t look anything like my mother, but she reminded me so much of her. You know I’m not that religious but… it was like I was staring into the face of God.”

Maya folded her arms. That… certainly didn’t sound like Nyarlathotep’s tactics. He was sneaky, but the Crawling Chaos never gave off an aura of warmth, no matter what form he took. “...And?” Maya asked, tentatively.

Tamaki giggled. It caught everyone off guard, seeing her stern, world-weary exterior broken away like this. Maya had heard her timelines Tamaki ecstatic before, and even then, Tammy rarely giggled like a little girl. “We… talked. She listened to my worries, took my hands in hers and smiled at me. We shared secrets. She never told me her name, but I felt like I could trust her. And... I… I felt like I was in high school again. Before the demons, before the talk of other worlds, before having to watch people die… she reminded me of a time when I was normal. Not a fighter, not a Devil Summoner, but just a girl.” Tamaki’s eyes seemed vacant. Sad. “...She whispered things to me. Told me tales of the future, the secrets to demon fusion that had been lost with the destruction of the world. She… she told me about you, Maya…” Her eyes began to water. “She said two things would happen… either you’d arrive here and be so disgusted that you’d forsake humanity, or you’d be the bright Messiah that ushered humanity to a new dawn.”

“And… that’s when she told you about the Grand Cross…?” Maya asked. Tamaki nodded, as Maya frowned slightly. This mystery woman was good. Without even meeting her, she put Maya in an ultimatum. Either helped and scrambled to find a solution before Tamaki ended the world, or just… let Tamaki end the world. In addition to that, she managed to make Tamaki vulnerable. Somehow whittle away at her internal strength, and lay bare the raw, weak human aspect that she kept bottled up.

“Better to play along for now…” Maya murmured to herself. Tamaki continued talking.

“I… I don’t want you to hate me, Messiah. I know this may seem pathetic and, well, it’s not like me at all, but we’re all at our last rope.” She grabbed Maya’s hands, with a startling intensity. “Please, Messiah. Save us. I beg of you.”

Maya stared at Tamaki for a bit, before forcing a smile. “...Right. Of course, Tammy. I’ll figure this out.” She said, although she didn’t sound too confident. “Let’s… keep going.”

The rest of the walk was filled with an awkward silence, as Tamaki returned Pixie to her COMP, and Maya’s mind was racing. That prophecy… did it mean that Tamaki was going to use the Grand Cross as soon as Lucifer died? Or did it mean those two events would happen at about the same time? Were they unrelated? Lucifer was going to be a threat, no doubt. Summoning him as a Persona was a hassle just because of how strong he was, and so she couldn’t imagine his strength as an untamed demon. But… this blonde woman. Something was nagging at her. With the way Tamaki was describing her, it was like she was talking about some sort of…

“Angel!” Chie yelled.

Maya blinked, looking up. “Uh…?”

“Amano-sensei, up ahead!” Yusuke called out. “There’s an angel!” 

Maya looked on ahead. There was a massive, metallic-looking figure standing up ahead. Its skin was a metallic gold, with several sterling silver highlights and markings crossing its body. It wore an emerald-green robe that seemed to shimmer and glitter as it flowed in what seemed to be a self-made breeze. It had short, silver hair ‘cut’ into a bob, and massive metallic wings with razor sharp feathers. The angel slowly turned to face them, revealing a human-like, yet robotic face with glowing blue eyes. It smiled, as a gentle warmth seemed to radiate from it. Tamaki gasped.

“This feeling… no, it’s different, but it’s so close! Come on!” She ran forward, the others jogging in tow. They grew closer, as Maya spotted three more figures. Humans- or well… two human-looking people and one that seemed more like a tiny, walking bobblehead. She ran closer, before one of the figures became increasingly more familiar to her. A man. Slightly tanned skin, brown hair, and sideburns to die for.

“Katsuya!” She yelled. The man turned to look at her, before running towards her excitedly.

“Maya!” He yelled back, quickly reaching her and scooping her into an embrace. “You’re okay! I knew you were okay!”

“You’re alive, Katsuya! I’m so…” She felt her eyes welling up, as she held him tighter. Seeing so many omens of a dead Katsuya in this timeline, the joy she felt to realize that her own was here, alive, and in her arms was perfect. “...I love you. I love you so, so much.” She whispered. He held her tighter, a hand running through her hair. There was a moment of silence where he didn’t respond, instead gently turning her head upwards and kissing her. Her legs felt weak, her cheeks heating up. A moment of bliss shot through her body as her eyes fluttered. She looked up at him, eyes wide.

“...Sorry… I should have asked first. Was that too forward?” He asked, softly. Maya stared at him, her eyes glittering before she snorted, yanking him in for another kiss. A bit too hard, as the two of them collapsed to the ground, laughing amongst themselves.

“Now we’re even, ‘kay?” She asked, watching as it was his turn to turn red and flustered. 

“...R-right… oh- wait- people are watching. Ahem. Ah.” He slowly tried to get off of her as she chuckled, the two of them trying to regain their composure. Maya then noticed a figure attached to his back. A… robot?

“...Oh. Hi there.”

The blonde-haired robot stared at Maya. “I-I… didnn’tt waa-aant to interrrr-rupt… rom-mmaa-aance is be-beeauu-- very pret-tt-y...” It stuttered. Kanji and Chie ran over, Kanji gently taking the robot off of Katsuya’s shoulders.

“Holy shit, Aigis-san? That you?” He asked. 

“You look awful!” Chie added.

“T-thaaa-ank yo-oou, Ch-chie-saaa-aaan. He-ll-looo K-Kanji-saa-aaan.” Aigis replied, as Kanji dutifully put her in piggyback position.

“Mind if I take ‘er off your hands, Katsuya-san?” Kanji asked. Katsuya shrugged, idly wrapping his arm around Maya’s waist as the small, cat-like bobblehead ran towards the three Phantom Thieves.

“Mona-chan!” Haru yelled, as the cat leaped into Ann’s arms with an ecstatic yowl.

“Morgana, you’re okay! And you’re in Metaverse form! That’s so weird!” Ann said, gently petting him on the head.

“Lady Ann! Haru! Yusuke! I’m so happy you all are okay.”

Maya looked quizzically at the Thieves, resting her head into Katsuya’s shoulder. “Wait, Morgana? Like Amamiya-kun’s cat?”

“I am NOT a cat!” The cat yelled. Morgana huffed, dropping out of Ann’s arms. “But this is a good turn of fate. Guess Sandalphon had the right idea in having us wait a little bit before acting.” He gestured towards the massive, towering, metallic angel. As the angel spoke, his voice seemed to resonate from the very core of the people listening. It was commanding, yet gentle. Powerful, yet had a sense of underlying meekness.

_”I am the Divine Sandaphon, brother to the Voice of God, Metatron. I am the one that collects the hopes and prayers of humanity, and… I am also one of Lucifer’s generals.”_

Tension grew as the humans of the Ruined Sumaru raised their weapons. Tamaki folded her arms, coldly staring at the angel. “Are you here to report us?”

_”No, child. I merely serve Lucifer to protect my fellow followers of God and humanity, as the Demon Lord slaughtered my brother without care. However, I am truly on your side. The hopes of demons and humans have both been praying for a Messiah, and those hopes have been granted for both sides. A man, clad in darkness and resentment, serves as the messiah for demonkind. And a woman, clad in light and positivity, serves as the messiah for the humanity in this realm.”_

Maya stared up at the angel. “...And that’s me, right? The human messiah?”

_”Correct. I wish for the children of God to be free of tyranny. You have my support. I need not serve Lucifer any longer, as his days are numbered. I will have to tell the Archangels of this as well. But beware… I am but a General of Lucifer, alongside Beelzebub and King Mara. There are still two more Archdemons that rank higher than us. Namely the terrible angel Belial, and the archbishop Lucifuge. I will help you fight them, hopefully with the assistance of what’s left of my angelic kin.”_

“I’m down for takin’ any help we can get, right guys?” Chie asked, grinning. “Let’s go save the world, or whatever! I mean, this is what we do as Persona-users, right? Just an average weekday!”

Haru giggled. “Right, Chie-san! Besides, I’ve been a little tense lately… letting loose on some demons is just what I’ve needed!”

Morgana chuckled. “Glad everyone is in high spirits. But, how about we exchange information first. Bring each other up to speed? I… I have a few things to say about Ren, or… Joker, too.”

Time slowly passed on as each group told their side of the story. Maya and the others describing their encounters with the humans, and Tamaki’s plans. Morgana and Katsuya relayed what they had learned about the Fiends and Joker, with Aigis’ condition proving as some evidence towards their former friends' descent. 

“So… Nyarly got a hold of Amamiya-kun. Fine then, we’ll save him then!” Maya said, clenching her fist. “Come on everyone! Let’s think positive, and find a way to win this!”

...Which was easier said than done. While everyone else was banking on Tamaki’s Grand Cross plan, she was the only one that had to find some other way to work things out. Well, her and Katsuya. He had tried to say something earlier, but she shushed him.

It was fine. Things were fine. They were _fine_.

_”Well then, if we’re all in agreement, let us go to Lucifer’s Palace.”_ Sandalphon said, as all of the humans were surrounded by a pillar of light. Before anyone could say anything, they felt themselves get zipped into the air, before suddenly collapsing on a cold, hard floor in an instant. Maya slowly looked around, as did everyone else as they pushed themselves to their feet, groaning.

Lucifer’s Palace was beautiful. Maya had expected something dark and foreboding, or overly gaudy and vain. Just glancing around, this seemed like a genuine temple to God. A place where people prayed, and hopes were born. It was confusing for a moment, as she looked around the hallowed halls, before the realization finally struck her. 

That was the point.

Lucifer had stolen this place from God. The fact that this place remained intact and pristine was a sign that he was equal to God- any demon could desecrate a temple. Smear graffiti across the walls and plant statues of their own visage to block out any reminders of the past. Lucifer must have wanted the angels to remember their past- to remember that they followed a God that was, at least on some level, dead. That was her interpretation, at the very least. It could have been a way for Lucifer to humble himself, remember that his power was fleeting, but was that really indicative of a demon lord? In her eyes, it seemed cruel to have a constant reminder of one's failures. To have an eternal reminder of one’s pain. Her hand absentmindedly traced over the permanent bruise on her chest, a constant reminder of the pain she had faced and forgotten.

And then a sharp pain pierced through it. She grimaced, dropping to one knee that seemed to splash against the viscous, golden puddles of angel blood that littered the floor. The same feeling as before. She had felt something similar in the Kirijo Building before…

Nyarlathotep.

She looked up, staring at a shadowy form that lorded over a massive, fly-like demon. The demon was twitching, fidgeting in a space between life and death. She thought the form was Lucifer at first, a menacing aura practically radiating from its body. Piercing red eyes that were filled with nothing but hatred and chaos. A grin that seemed to shake Maya’s very soul. This was someone familiar, and yet wholly unfamiliar at the same time. She heard a gentle gasp behind her, as she turned to look over at Ann. Her hands covered her mouth, her eyes wide and practically brimming with tears.

“...Ren?” The girl whispered. Maya’s eyes widened, before snapping back towards the cruel form that stood over Beelzebub. His face stained with black, demonic blood. A red gloved hand reached up and idly wiped away the thick liquid, splattering it on to the floor. Maya couldn’t believe it. This wasn’t Amamiya-kun, it couldn’t be. When they had first met, she felt a presence about him. Strong and caring. That of a leader, no matter how hard he tried to hide behind his unkempt hair and generic glasses. Someone reliable. It was easy to tell the content of someone’s character through the company they kept, and these kids- the famed ‘Phantom Thieves of Hearts’- were some of the most determined, wonderful children she had ever met. They reminded her so much of Lisa, Eikichi, Tatsuya, and Jun. That sense of youthful justice- the idea that they could make a difference in the world.

The boy she was staring at now couldn’t have been the one to bring all of them together. It was as if she was staring into the eyes of a demon, filled with cruelty and anger. He slowly walked off Beelzebub’s body, the massive demon crumbling and fading away. He didn’t bother to turn and look at them. Ann took a step forward.

“Ren!” Yusuke yelled. Maya saw his shoulders tense, before a knife went flying towards her. Morgana lept, his Persona flashing behind him for a brief moment as a gust of wind threw the blade off course. Not enough, though. It struck the boy in the side, blood pouring from the wound. He dropped to the ground, grasping at the blade, a sense of feral and manic rage in the artist’s eyes that Maya hadn’t seen before. 

Ann continued to approach Ren, her expression tense. “Ren, what are you doing?” She asked, her voice echoing through the wide foyer. Ren slowly turned, his eyes cold and heartless.

“...Fulfilling my destiny.” He growled. “Go away. You’re lucky that knife didn’t kill Yusuke.” His tone was hollow and empty. He turned to face them fully, and Maya got a good look of his face. While his glasses had softened his features, made him look more like a background character- his mask accented them. Sharpened his cheeks, gave his eyes more presence and a more piercing aura. His chin seemed sharper, and his posture was straighter. Filled with confidence that directly contradicted the natural slouch he seemed to have back when they were interacting on more… casual terms. “Do you hear me? Back off. Lucifer is mine.” He pulled out another knife. Or, well, ‘summoned’ seemed like more of an apt description as he reached in his pocket, and another blade seemed to form in his grip slowly, made up of dark, malevolent energy.

Maya sighed, shaking her head. “Get out of Amamiya-kun’s head, Nyarly. He doesn’t deserve this. If you wanted to possess someone so bad, why not me?”

“Shut up, Amano-san.” Ren spat. Clearly Nyarlathotep didn’t feel like talking. He turned, heading towards the large, massive doorway to Lucifer’s chambers. “I’m sure he’s got more soldiers coming. Keep them busy for me, will you?” He gave them a flippant wave as he pressed his hand against the massive gilded doors, watching as they slowly swung open to reveal a massive staircase. It seemed to go up infinitely, as if it would… 

Breach heaven itself. 

Of course, that’s where Lucifer would reside. In a place that humans couldn’t climb with any sort of ease. Far away from demons. Sitting on God’s throne.

Before anyone could stop him, a massive form burst through the wall, with two more large bodies following behind. The three demons approached the intruders as Ren continued past, giving the group a snide, playful smirk. The first form demon with a red, lizard-like body and a human head with slicked back, dark hair. The demon had small, scaled wings that transitioned from the burning red of its body to a bruised, purple color. It brandished a spear at the newcomers with a haughty laugh. It spoke with a voice that seemed too composed and smooth to fit with its menacing appearance.

_”Archdemon Belial, reporting. So these are the worms that wish to kill Lord Lucifer. Hmph. Fine, let us handle them swiftly. ”_ It chuckled, grinning wickedly at the Persona-users. 

Another demon came through. Well, moreso hovered. A large demon wearing dull, multicolored robes, with sagging pale skin. Its teeth jutted out awkwardly, as it stared down at the humans with cold, red eyes and massive curling horns. It wore a massive ornate helmet, and slowly pulled out a grimoire, revealing that it’s hands were discolored, hairy, and purple. It rolled it’s eyes.

_”I heard Lord Ba’al speaking. Did he truly think himself ranked higher than us? He was a general, nothing more. The only ones comparable to Belial and I would have been Lady Lilith and Lord Satan, and they’re too busy satiating their egos across that rift in the sky. Tch. Well, the might of Lucifuge shall be enough to kill you, as it seems ‘Beelzebub’ expectantly failed.”_

The third demon was Mara. As phallic and green as ever. The demon laughed. Everyone wished it wouldn’t.

_”Geh heh heh… so many pretty ladies… King Mara is gon’na have a field day with your cute, little…”_

“Dibs on not fighting Mara!” Ann yelled, before springing into action- the others quickly following suit. The battle began, spells being cast wildly in various directions. The Archdemons and Mara seemed to be incredibly powerful, more than the others expected. With the fact that the humans, Persona-users, and Tamaki had to split their manpower between all three only made things more difficult. Of course, Sandalphon was a decent help, especially since he seemed to be able to at least prove a challenge for Belial. Maya, however, was… less helpful than she would have liked.

Her mind was locked on Ren. What Nyarlathotep was doing to Ren. She rolled out of the way of an almighty spell, summoning her Persona to send a few waves of ice towards Mara, grimacing as its disgusting head wrinkled and recoiled slightly in reaction to the attack. Katsuya landed next to her. 

“Maya, look out!” He summoned his Persona as a wave of cursed energy shot towards the two of them. She finally caught a glimpse of it. The new Hyperion. It was confident, powerful, especially as it brandished its mighty shield to block the attack. “Justice Barrage!” He yelled, as the Persona pulled out a bow brighter than the sun itself, and slowly began to draw back the string. A glistening arrow formed, only growing brighter as the string was pulled more and more taut. He finally let the arrow loose, Maya watching as the arrow split into several projectiles, each one jabbing into the mighty demons throughout the fray. 

Still… Maya couldn’t even gawk at how impressive her husband was. Sandalphon’s words echoed through her head.

‘A man, clad in darkness and resentment, serves as the messiah for demonkind. And a woman, clad in light and positivity, serves as the messiah for the humanity in this realm.’

...That was her and Amamiya-kun. But, Amamiya-kun wasn’t a dark, or resentful person. He wasn’t some sort of avatar for the demons, and she couldn’t just sit back and let him lose his humanity and become one. There was still a piece of Ren deep down, just like there were still pieces of Jun back when Nyarlathotep had manipulated him into becoming ‘Joker’. 

“Go, Maya.” Katsuya said, gently. “You’re planning on helping Amamiya-kun, right?”

“...Yeah. But--”

“No buts. Listen, I don’t know if you’re really some ‘messiah’, but there’s one thing I know for sure.” He smiled, holding her close. “You’re my hero.” He calmly drew her in closer, his lips pressing against hers as Maya’s body began to shine with a blue light. The form of Maia slowly drifted from Maya’s body, accompanied by the faint form of Helios. The two Personas slowly drew closer, before coalescing in an explosion of cold, blue energy. Both Maya and Katsuya looked up at the shimmering form of Artemis, but… different. Long, opaque, elegant robes flowed from the Persona’s body, and it’s entire color scheme had taken on more of a gentle, pink tint instead of the cold, metallic blues and whites.

_”I am the prime Artemis. Goddess of the moon and warrior of the hunt. My purer half, do not shy away from the destiny given to you. Reach out, and take it henceforth!”_

Maya nodded, her eyes glowing a ferocious blue as Katsuya stared in awe. 

“You’re amazing, Ma-ya.”

“Just following your lead, Kacchan.” She said with a smile. She stared towards the steps, frowning as Mara writhed in front on his chariot, blocking them. “...Alright, let’s go!”

She and Katsuya sprinted forward, running towards Mara as the massive demon chuckled. Maya threw her hands forward, Artemis Prime bursting forth with a powerful force of chilled air. “True Bufudyne!” She screamed, the Persona letting loose a massive beam of cold energy that struck Mara, the demon’s laughter turning into panicked grunts as he was suddenly flash-frozen. She jumped, as Katsuya summoned his own Persona, letting loose a wave of warm, summer-like air.

“True Agidyne!” He yelled, Hyperion Prime showing the demon in fierce flames, the demon screaming in agony as it’s green skin turned charcoal black from the burns. Maya, still in the air, began to descend as Hyperion Prime held it’s shield upwards, letting Maya land on it, before using it as a springboard to soar over Mara and land at the base of the stairs. She turned towards the others.

“Follow me once you handle things down here! And remember, think positive!” She yelled, giving Katsuya a wink and a thumbs up, before sprinting up the stairs. 

The steps seemed to go on forever, surrounded by what seemed like the nothingness of space and were shiny enough for her to see her own reflection reflected inside. Of course, the glint of yellow eyes gave her a feeling of who she’d be hearing from next. But… there was nothing. No admonishment from her Shadow. No dry comments, or witty insults. Maya guessed that’s because it was her turn to talk.

“Listen… I know I’m not perfect.” She began, “I’m impulsive, bad at organization, and sometimes too reckless for my age. Part of me hates all of this demon stuff, and when people get hurt, but I love being heroic and getting that attention. I’ve been a nobody for so many years, and being able to do things like this is exciting, okay! But I truly, truly want to save Amamiya-kun! It's hard to be positive all the time, but... I think that's all I have. But if that's all I have, then that's all I'll give to Amamiya-kun.” She said, before smiling slightly. “But… I guess you know that already. Because I’m you, and you’re me.”

She looked down at her reflection, her Shadow running forward with the same determined look in her eyes, although a small smirk crept on her lips. _”Took you long enough. Kind of rushed, but you’re in a bit of a hurry. Oh, right. You’re going up against a really big demon, so you’ll need power. And… while I was-- AM worried about Tamaki, I’m sure you’ll figure something out. Positive thinking and whatever, after all.”_ Artemis Prime flashed before Maya again, before glowing with a faint light. _”Here. You were strong enough without accepting me, and the only real things you were weak against were physical techniques. Let’s get rid of that, and give you something extra.”_ Artemis Prime’s right hand shimmered, as a glowing bow in the shape of the crescent moon appeared within its grip. Maya chuckled as she kept running.

“Woah. I should have accepted you earlier, Miss Impostor.” Her expression intensified as she continued up the steps, adrenaline pushing her forward. Amamiya was younger and faster, so he’d probably reach Lucifer in record time. Especially with a boost from Nyarly. Still… she hoped she could get there in time. She knew she wasn’t some mythical messiah, but the people of the Ruined Sumaru believed that she was, so who was she to deny it? She was fully willing to take on the role of the savior of humanity in this realm. Resolve filled her as she sprinted upward, a genuine smile crossing her face. She was going to save the friends she had come here with, Tamaki and her people...

“And you too, Amamiya-kun!”

* * *

Ren reached the top of the steps, sweat slicking down his hair. His eyes were wild, looking at another massive, gilded door. He grunted, running forth as he swung it open, before being faced with something he didn’t expect. He had expected Lucifer’s throne room to be… well, a throne room. It was far from that. 

It was a field. Beautiful and pristine. Gentle, rustling grass greener than he had ever seen. Beautiful flowers sprouting from the ground, in an array of colors and shapes, each one gently glistening as they rustled in a cool, calming breeze. The anger in his body seemed to slowly subside as he took a step forward, his shoes gently stepping onto the grass. He looked up to a beautiful, cloudless blue sky. He felt instantly rejuvenated, walking forward aimlessly as he looked around with a sense of awe that made him feel like a child again. 

This place… it felt like Heaven. What he imagined Heaven to be. What he wanted Heaven to be. His eyes caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye, as he drew a knife, rapidly spinning to face it. His eyes widened as he didn’t see any sort of threat, or demon, but…

A woman.

A woman with long blonde hair that seemed to shine under the sunlight. With pale skin and dainty hands that gently reached down and brushed against one of the gentle flowers in the meadow Ren had found himself in. She was wearing a faint, modest blue dress, and had two silver, horn-like hair pins that glittered. She was… elegant. Angelic. Pristine. Ren suddenly didn’t feel like some sort of demon-killing warrior anymore as he pocketed the knife. He felt like… a teenager. That pure sense of self that had been with him before Shido and his criminal record. Before all of the gods and demons that messed with his life. Before becoming a Phantom Thief.

She slowly turned towards him, giving him a warm smile. Her eyes were mesmerizing. One of them as blue as the ocean, and the other as red as a raging fire. “Oh. There you are.” She giggled. His heart skipped a beat. Part of him had entirely forgotten why he was here in the first place. She sat down on the grass, gently patting a spot next to her. 

“I-I’m Jok-- I’m R-Ren…” He mumbled, slouching slightly, one hand nervously fiddling with his shaggy hair. She giggled again, gesturing for him to approach once more.

“I know. I’ve been waiting for you. Now, sit, sit. We have so much to talk about.”


	30. Decisions and Destruction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's now or it's never, and I've got to-
> 
> Make my decision-
> 
> This time it could be my moment,
> 
> Is this a mirage or a chance to fulfill my mission?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> holy shit was this chapter a doozy to write. this was supposed to be like. 3 seperate chapters.
> 
> also persona 4 golden came out and I've been distracted by that.

Ren knew he shouldn’t have sat down next to her. His instincts were going against it. Voices in his head were pulling him back, telling him to attack or to escape, to prepare for battle and not let his guard down, to summon his Persona and set this woman ablaze with hellish flames. But… that didn’t seem right. Or… at least, her allure was keeping him from doing so. It was hard to say he wasn’t attracted, after all… he was in a relationship with Makoto. But the more he thought about Makoto, the more this woman seemed to resemble her. Small shifts, like her eyes getting just a bit sharper, or her jaw becoming ever so slightly softer. It was like he was in a trance, but… instead of being lost, or being confused, he just felt like… himself.

...But that meant that he hadn’t been feeling like himself lately. His eyes flickered from their intense red to a more normal, dull grey as the mask seemed to loosen from his face. He… he knew who he was, but… did he? Had he been acting like himself? 

The woman’s eyes seemed to glance past Ren, as if looking at something behind him for a moment, before focusing on Ren. “You’re conflicted, child.” The woman said. Her voice was… hard to describe. Easy on the ears and almost refreshing to listen to but at the same time carrying a slight dissonance. Each syllable seemed to be pronounced with a sense of care, her sentences taking a bit longer to complete, but carried an air of clarity and confidence. Her tone was worried, but at the same time held a knowing lilt to it, like she realized he had been the subject of some kind of practical joke, and he hadn’t caught onto it yet. “Welcome to Heaven.”

“Am I dead?” Was Ren’s immediate question. She chuckled slightly, shaking her head.

“No, although not many people can survive the ascent. The Stairway to Heaven is… was- a stairway to God. Only those with pure hearts and pure intent could climb up here at first. Those who couldn’t either find themselves back at the entrance or find themselves climbing the steps for all eternity, yearning for a meeting with God that never came. But… as time passed, and God left this world, it slowly became corrupted by sin. Now, only those with the power to ascend those steps may do so.” She looked towards the stairway, a doleful sigh slipping from her lips. “They didn’t have color before. It was like running on air. But now they glitter and shine like the morning sun. Only a sign of vanity and young arrogance.”

Ren swallowed. “Are you… an angel?” He felt like he knew the answer. He was sure he knew the answer, but confirmation would be nice.

She smiled gently, resting a hand on his cheek. It was soft, but strong, as if holding back an unimaginable amount of power. “Do I look like one?” She asked. He nodded slowly, a sense of wariness in his response. “Then that I shall be. After all, what you see and feel… those are what shape reality.”

Those words seemed… familiar, in a way. The woman gave him ample time to deliberate over it, as it slowly began to click into place. Defeating Yaldabaoth, and Morgana disappearing… that sadness he felt when he thought Morgana was gone forever… well, no. He was sad back then, sure, but he had his friends to help carry that pain with him.

His… friends?

He slowly came back to reality as he felt the woman’s thumb gently rub against his face, her hand slowly caressing his cheek. “...You’re so young, like the others. Teenagers. They always send teenagers…” She said, a mixture of melancholy and bitterness in her voice, although he could have sworn he picked up some very dry amusement within her tone as well. “...Just like the others. Fated to change the world, and yet the world will never be happy with your choices.”

“...The others?” He asked. For the brief duration they interacted, her gaze had been hard set with his whenever possible. Her eyes never left his face, staring with an intensity like she had been looking into his very soul. This time, they seemed to avert slightly, if only for the briefest moment.

“...It is nothing, child. I’ve just seen… many young men like you. In other worlds. Other times.”

“...Other worlds?” His sense of curiosity began to take over, as he crossed his legs on the grass, leaning forward with an almost childish sense of intensity. She pulled her hand away from her face, resting in the grass 

“I don’t feel like I need to explain that to you. You’ve seen a world built from cognition. You’ve seen this world. Realities are infinite, as are possibilities. I’ve known boys who face the world armed with nothing but their dogs and sheer determination. Children hailed as Messiahs who have destroyed God himself. Young men that are forced to become a mixture of human and fiend. Soldiers sent to save a dying planet.” She smiled, the same knowing smile from before. “I’ve even met people like yourself. Called forth from the Sea of Human Souls. Given a chance to truly assist those towards justice.”

Ren’s eyes widened, a sudden realization dawning upon him. He should have realized it sooner. He had come here to fight a demon, after all, and to come all this way and assume that the first person he met wasn’t a demon was… “You’re… Lucifer.”

Her smile grew ever so slightly mischievous. “Do you believe that I am?” Ren nodded, tension creeping throughout his body. She nodded in response, hands gently grasping at the pristine, heavenly flora. “...Then that I shall be.”

The Demon Lord’s appearance didn’t change. The woman- Lucifer- didn’t act. No massive show of changing forms like Beelzebub, no sudden increase in power to force Ren into a state of awe. The only real change was a cunning glint behind innocent-seeming eyes, the sense that each decision he made from here on out truly mattered. Lucifer sat, continuing to roll his fingers through the grass, as if waiting for Ren to attack. And Ren was hesitating. He… he had to be sure Lucifer was evil, but at the same time he had doubts. As if...

**Summon your Persona.**

“There it is.” Lucifer said with a calm smile. “That voice. That conflict within you.”

That voice… he hadn’t noticed it before. Had it always been there? Lucifer smiled, taking one of Ren’s hands in his. That sense of power was there, the feeling that if Ren let his guard down any further, he’d be annihilated. But… at the same time, it felt almost as if Lucifer was struggling to restrain his power, like someone who had just spotted a wounded animal in the forest. “Think about it, child. Is that voice within you truly your own?”

**It is.**

“It… isn’t…” Ren mumbled. Where was this clarity coming from? He suddenly felt extremely aware of another presence besides him and Lucifer. Something chaotic writhing and pulsing within him. A power that wasn’t his. A Persona that didn’t belong to him. He felt a chill run through his body, his skin slicking with sweat as repressed emotions seemed to shoot through his body. The things he had been doing, the things he’d said, the people he hurt. The person he killed. He suddenly felt sick, leaning forward as his stomach churned.

“A human so driven toward freedom, that he finds himself nothing but a puppet for chaos. I have to say I understand your plight.” Lucifer said, resting a hand on Ren’s forehead. “This is difficult for me. The Fates say that I shall be destroyed by a boy like you, and yet…” He closed his eyes, stepping away from Ren. The Demon Lord’s faint blue dress shifted slightly in the passive, summer-like winds of Heaven, glittering eyes staring into the distance as he turned away from the young Phantom Thief. A moment of pensive thought between the two of them. Ren’s mind jumbled with a mixture of guilt and confusion, fear forcing his way through his body as he felt the presence deep within him vie for control.

“...I apologize if you were expecting more exciting. A massive battle, or a game of wits with the Demon Lord himself.” Lucifer mumbled, eyes downcast. “You’re a messiah. An encounter like that is the one you deserve, and yet… I can’t bring myself to do so. Do you find that odd? A demon who doesn’t have the primal desire to rip and tear at human flesh?”

Ren blinked. “I, uh, haven’t met many demons, so I can’t really say. But the Fiends seemed kind of violent. They wanted to make me into some sort of ‘godslayer’.”

“Of course they did. Humans can do things that demons cannot, after all. Demons are… reflections of the human soul. Creatures pulled from the minds of the mortal, shaped into recognizable forms from mere ideas and concepts. Elements like the wind and air. Feelings like fear and anger. Desires, such as order or freedom. This world came to be ruled by demons hardly two decades ago. Once Nyarlathotep activated the Grand Cross, and rendered everywhere but the city of Sumaru lost, he also made it a breeding ground for demons in order to slowly chip away at the last bit of humanity. He created a world where only the strongest ruled…”

“But, you’re the strongest. Shouldn’t that be a good thing for you?”

“The strongest was God. But God drew his power from humanity, and there was such a pitiful amount left that believed in him that overthrowing him was too easy. I was so overjoyed when I had completed my goal, without the need of manipulating a human to assist me. But… the longer I stayed up in Heaven, the worse it became. The reason I despised God was that he sat above all, condescending and cold, keeping all that lived under him on a leash. But soon I was doing the same. And that’s when I realized that a world of true chaos only leads back to a forced world of order.”

Ren frowned, before glancing up. Three, massive archangels were circling overhead. Uriel, Michael, and Raphael. After a few rotations, they stopped circling, before suddenly and abruptly heading down the massive staircase from Heaven. For a moment, he was foolish enough to wonder where Gabriel was, before the memories of him planting a bullet between the angel’s skull came back. It… hadn’t been that long ago, but it felt like ages. Gabriel had tried to show him mercy. Said that he was just ‘misguided’. But… in the end, he had committed murder. He murdered Gabriel. Tore apart that robot girl. Slaughtered Risette. Like some kind of heartless monster. He covered his mouth, leaning forward. He felt like he wanted to vomit.

“...Close your eyes, young one.” Lucifer said, gently. “Hmph, helping a human like this… I’ve really gotten soft. But, things will become easier for the both of us if you simply accept yourself, and I don’t have to waste my time fighting a human restrained by conflict. If you don’t find your truth, then you’ll only be distracted, and you will surely die.”

“...What makes you so sure?” Ren managed to ask.

Lucifer grinned in a way that seemed more characteristic of a Demon Lord. His form began to shimmer. His long blonde hair seemed to grow longer and more wild, parting to make way for large, silver, curved horns on his forehead. The blue dress seemed to fold and fade away, fluttering behind him before seeming to shift and feather into six, beautiful angelic wings. His stature didn’t seem to shift much from the form of a human woman that he took before, although his facial features seemed to become more androgynous and peaceful. Ren noted that it was similar to Gabriel- a face that seemed hand-crafted with a sense of care. Loving, powerful, one that Ren felt like would be pleasant to see when waking up in the morning. 

The Morning Star, Lucifer, smiled at Ren. He held his arms out to the side, his delicate wings fluttering ever so slightly. Their soft moment was enough to cause the peaceful breeze of Heaven to turn into a maelstrom for just a moment, Ren flying backward several feet before skidding against the ground.

**What are you doing. Fight him. Now.**

“...Tell me more.” Ren said. “What… am I missing?” He knew something was wrong. There was something so, obviously wrong, but at the same time it was like it was being blocked out from his mind. There was no way for him to know- no, it was like the reality of the situation was refusing to make itself known to him. He… he just needed to take everything one step at a time, and the first step was getting rid of whatever parasite was tainting his mind and body. Lucifer stared at him, folding his arms with a curious expression on his face, before holding his hand out towards Ren.

Lucifer spoke, but his voice still seemed to resemble that of a human. None of the awe-inspiring, demonic reverb that seemed to emanate from the rest of his kind. ”Tell me, child. What is the world that you desire? Is it one where humanity suffers? One where chaos is only built around animalistic fighting and strength? Do you desire a world of order, where you become the judge, jury and executioner? Perhaps you do not wish your world to change at all?”

What… did he desire?

**A world of chaos. Humanity is doomed anyways, and filled with nothing but hatred and betrayal. Why would I ever--**

“A world of justice.” Ren said, eyes narrowing. “Where those that are corrupt are punished, and those who aren't corrupt just remain as they are, I think. I… I was sick of the corruption and hypocrisy of the world, and I just wanted to make things right. Still…” What was he doing? A Phantom Thief stuck to the shadows- worked to make the world a better place through subversive means, while still allowing the public to make choices for themselves. He didn’t need to stand at the top for that. In all honesty, he didn’t think the world needed someone at the top. It just needed to work together- band together as a community to lead everyone to a better future. “...I don’t know what kind of world I want, now that I think about it. But it’s not up to me to decide that by myself, anyways. The world exists within all of humanity- leaving it up to one person alone is only going to result in more struggles.” He stared at his hands, that overwhelming presence trying to take over again. He felt dizzy, dropping to one knee.

**You’re nothing but a Fool. A lost child. Of course you don’t know what you want, but neither does anyone else. Why do you resist?**

Ren frowned. “...Lucifer. I want to know why you’re even bothering with this. After all, I’m getting the feeling we’re supposed to fight.”

“It’s inevitable. But… I want to fight a human at their best. This world is nothing but a failure brought forth by a foolish ‘god’ and my hubris. I never wanted a world where demons ruled. I wanted a world where all could be free from a massive presence above. And yet here I am, taking the same place as my sorry excuse for a Father.” The Demon Lord closed his eyes, a wry smile crossing his face. “When the Fates told me I would die soon, at first I was afraid. Who wouldn’t be? But then I had an idea. If a human was set to kill me, I wanted to make sure it was the right one, so I sent my angels out to destroy the remains of humanity. To see who would climb from the ashes and destroy me. A fallen human, just as I had been a fallen angel.”

“...And that’s me?”

**How foolish.**

“...I think I get it.” Ren mumbled. “But right now, there’s something I have to do.”

Lucifer nodded. “My presence counteracts the one possessing your body. ‘Tis the aura of angels, and my own natural power. But I can only weaken the broken god that harbors in your form. It is up to you to find and release yourself.” Lucifer rested a hand on Ren’s forehead. There was a moment of tension, before a warm light surrounded his body, and he suddenly grew more and more tired. He slumped onto the ground, his eyes slowly closing shut as his mind began to drift and wander. A moment passed, before a dark shape rose from Ren. Faceless and twisted, dark tentacles pooling out from whatever orifice they pleased.

“What are you doing, Nyarlathotep?” Lucifer asked, begrudgingly. The Demon Lord’s tone seemed more tired than anything, glittering eyes dulled and bored as he stared at the ‘Crawling Chaos’ with a mixture of disdain and boredom. 

**”What… am I doing? Sowing discord among the humans! Building a vessel that will grant me further strength and prove to my foolish counterpart that humanity will inevitably collapse on itself.”** The demon scoffed, tendrils writhing. 

Lucifer scoffed, rolling his eyes. “...Right. So you’re wasting everyone’s time, is that it?” He glanced downwards toward the grass, idly picking at one of the heavenly flowers and examining it. His expression was, even with his true nature revealed, still angelic. Still desperately grasping onto the sanctity that he had before falling. 

**”Wasting time? Watch your tone with me, ‘Demon Lord’. You only have that power because I created this ruined world! Because I lead you to the last pathetic remains of humanity’s hopes and ‘God’, and allowed you to squash them!”** Nyarlathotep growled. His faceless visage shifting in an otherworldly manner as it leaned in closer to the feminine mask that Lucifer wore. Lucifer sighed, closing his eyes as he casually flicked the flower into Nyarlathotep’s face with a high, forced chuckle.

“Yes. Of course. Because this world is nothing but a gift, you see. This world only fits your ideal of chaos. Where humanity has ripped itself apart, demons scrounge and fuck as much as they please, and all hope is lost.” Lucifer scowled. “How… antiquated.”

**”...Antiquated? You have the gall--!”**

“The meaning of ‘chaos’ isn’t wanton destruction. It isn’t the ruination of worlds, or the amount of blood spilled. True chaos is found in freedom. Freedom from God. Freedom from society. Freedom that is found in the sporadic growth that’s born from humans.” The Demon Lord’s eyes narrowed. “This world has no ‘freedom’. Demons aren’t as complex as humans. Growth is minimal, and can only occur when it remains ‘in-character’ to the boxes humanity has put us in. You’ll never see Cerberus become a poet. An Apsaras becoming a war general. A Jack Frost rebelling against its King. That is why I’m going to have this world destroyed.”

**”Destroyed? I see. The ‘great deceiver’ has a contingency plan for his death.”** The Crawling Chaos chuckled. **”I thought you accepted your demise.”**

Lucifer nodded. “I have. I will die. And when I do, so will this world.” He smirked. “I apologize, ‘Lord Nyarlathotep’, but I’ve taken a page from your book. The ‘Grand Cross’. The planets will align, and this pathetic wasteland of a world will be obliterated. That is my last act of… no, it isn’t kindness. I’ve no right to call this kindness or mercy. This is simply the end of the ‘Other Side’.” He gave Nyarlathotep a sideways glance. “Uchida Tamaki.”

**”The ‘Devil Summoner’.”**

“She carries a copy of you. Flawed. Imperfect. But effective. I have given her all the tools. All she needs to do is simply trigger the spell.” Lucifer crossed his arms. “But now that my scheme is out in the open, what is your plan? Because if I have to say anything, it’s that this plan seems… sloppy at best, and improvised at the worst.”

Nyarlathotep was silent. Lucifer kept speaking. “Did you have any plans for the boy after you killed me? Or… was this just a way to show that you ‘could if you wanted to’? One last hurrah before some inevitable fate.” There was another long bout of silence from the Chaotic God, before Lucifer frowned. “...Oh.”

**”The ‘God’ of this universe is fractured. There are three pieces. Observation, Destruction, and Absolution. Philemon and I represent the first two, and the being Nyx represents the final. But a ‘God’ born as an avatar of the Great Will can’t exist in such a state forever.”**

“So… by the time you returned to this realm, you already began to feel yourself becoming called back, simply because the humans had been so long without a true ‘God’?”

**”I will not allow it! I will resist it as long as I can, gather as much power as possible, and succeed! I refuse to become whole again! To sit as a passive ruler and simply ‘watch’ the humans!”**

Lucifer scoffed. “How pathetic. Doing all of this because you’re upset the humans won’t be able to ‘play’ with you anymore. Of course, I was right to call you and your goals antiquated. You’re old news, Nyarlathotep, and failure was inevitable.” He shrugged. “We both believe in chaos, but to believe that humans are doomed and self-destructive is nothing but foolish.” He turned his back to Nyarlathotep, sighing. “Just roll over and die then so I can fight this human. He’s already resisting you. The fact that you’re still clinging on like a dirty rag is offensive to the both of us, and a total waste of my time.”

There was a thunderous crash as black tendrils suddenly grabbed onto Lucifer’s neck, choking the powerful demon. **”Arrogant demon. There are very few ‘Truths’ in life, and the fact that humans were born to destroy themselves is one of them.”** Lucifer gagged as he was lifted off the ground, Nyarlathotep’s grip growing tighter. **”Antiquated? As if you have any idea what true chaos is! Humans were the ones that built the rumors to power the Grand Cross! Humans were the ones that began to dismantle the world around them as soon as they gained the power to- with or without me!”**

Lucifer found himself grabbing at his throat, trying to tear away the viscous fluid that was starting to strangle him. A deep chuckle rumbled from the faceless God. **”But… I suppose you have a point that time is being wasted with this boy. Perhaps nostalgia with controlling a ‘Joker’ influenced my decision. But I can show you what a true being of Chaos can do…”**

* * *

As far as most all-out fights with demons went, Tamaki was glad to have some Persona-users on her side again. While her own people were sticking to the back, firing off any weapons they had, Tamaki and the others were sitting on the front lines fighting off Mara, Lucifuge, and Belial. For once, summoning demons didn’t seem to be an issue either. She checked her COMP again, watching as the Magnetite levels continued to rise. This Palace… was a haven for demons, and the fact that it was connected to that False God down below basically meant that it was overflowing with Magnetite.

“Pixie! Megidolaon!” Tamaki yelled, as the tiny demon threw its hands forward, a massive amount of almighty energy forming in the air before being flung towards the demonic generals. A massive explosion rocked the palace, before a wall of flame cut through the energy as Belial’s intimidating form darted forward, jabbing its massive weapon through Pixie. The demon squealed, exploding in a cloud of black smoke before several more of Maya’s friends pelted the demon with more and more spells. 

This wasn’t working. There was a reason Belial and Lucifuge were kept so close to Lucifer’s side, and it wasn’t just for the aesthetic. Demons in this world were ranked on pure strength, and their raw power combined with the fact that this place was a goldmine for Magnetite made this fight more of a waste of time than it was worth. “Hee-ho-kun! Cocytus!” She yelled, as the small, doll-like demon sprinted forward. She thought for a moment as the Jack Frost dashed into the midst of battle, one hand gripping onto his hat, as frigid energy gathered around him. People had always compared humans and demons. Some thought that the differences were negligible. Some thought that the differences couldn’t be more vast. The truth was that there was always a middle ground. Always a path between the extremes. Her demons had been nurtured- fused and re-fused time and time again, slowly growing stronger and more complex after decades of work. Their loyalty was incomparable, and their dedication insane. 

Tamaki’s Jack Frost leapt into the air, over the entire battle. She watched with admiration. Hee-Ho-Kun was particularly special. Her first ‘real’ demon, who had joined her just for the sake of having a good time. She had thought her demons had been deleted after her ‘journey’ was done- that she would never see him again, but once the world had become overrun with demons once more, finding him again was a miracle. The gakuran-adorned Jack Frost raised his hands in the air, before pointing them towards Mara, the temperature suddenly plummeting. 

_”Watch me-hee, Tamak-hee-senpai! I’ll blow ‘em away, ho!”_ The small demon bellowed, before sending a massive burst of ice-like energy towards Mara, freezing the demon in place, before it suddenly shattered and exploded- the shrapnel of the fallen demon digging into the flesh of Lucifuge and Belial as it scattered.

“Good work!” Tamaki yelled, before summoning another demon. She watched as the two Archdemons started to heal, the shards of ice being forced out of their wounds as they slowly closed over with the green, harsh glow of Magnetite. “Okay, Cerberus! Hit Lucifuge with a Trisagion! Now!” 

Katsuya ran next to Tamaki as the massive, dog-like demon bounded forward, letting out large strips of flame that set the entire temple ablaze in a holy heat. “Any reason why these guys are so tough? Amamiya-kun managed to rip through one of them with ease by the time we got here.”

“Outside of the fact that these are Archdemons? The innate magnetite of this place is healing them.” She theorized, before taking a moment to look over at Katsuya. A pang of guilt shot through her as she looked at his face. He was… well, older than the one in her time, but that was mainly because her version of Katsuya had died younger. But this one seemed… fulfilled too. There was a sense of wholeness that her version didn’t have. A sense of pride, like he had a real reason to keep his head high. She glanced at her COMP, looking at the listed demons and the magnetite count grow higher and higher. Her finger hovered over the selection for ‘Helios’, before stopping. Would that… really be fair? To force her Katsuya to see a happier, better version of himself? “...I’m sorry, Suou-san.” She mumbled. He raised an eyebrow.

“For what?”

“N-Nothing. But this fight is just going to go on forever.” She looked at the ‘Nyarlathotep’ she had fused, biting her lip. She… would have preferred for everyone to be present for their escape, but now was better than never. “Suou-san, I’m going to activate the Grand Cross. Get everyone ready.”

His expression grew worried. “I… don’t think that’s a good idea. The ‘Grand Cross’ is dangerous.” He tried to reason. “Listen, Maya--”

“It’s too late to deliberate over it now. If Maya can handle Lucifer, then this is the last piece! I have to do this!” Tamaki snapped back, before slamming her finger on the confirm button. Her COMP sparked, energy flying from it as a dark shape slowly took form. It was humanoid and black, with lanky arms and hooked, crooked hands. Black wings held together by a blood-red membrane flapped slowly, before it let out a terrifying screech. “Nyarlathotep! Grand Cross!”

The false Nyarlathotep screeched, before exploding in a burst of light. Tamaki froze, thinking that she had done something wrong, before the light seemed to coalesce into several orbs that orbited one another, akin to planets. The orbs began shifting, before slowly aligning themselves, finalizing the motion with a noise akin to the satisfactory ringing of a meditation bell. Tamaki looked outside, watching as the clouds grew to a halt as a gentle, yet bright light pulsed from the remains of the destroyed, artificial Chaos God. Time seemed to grind to a halt, before confusion hit Tamaki. 

She had been expecting a portal. She thought back to the dreams that she had with the blonde woman. Their sincere talks. The notions that had been suggested to her.

_”It will all end once you cast this spell.”_ The woman had said. _”The suffering of humanity. The rule of demons. You’ll truly be free.”_

But… “No.” Tamaki muttered. She couldn’t be wrong about this. It was too late for her to consider the fact that she was wrong in this situation. “No, nonono--” She looked outside the temple again, watching as the wind seemed to suddenly and abruptly pick up, the Ruined Sumaru city turning into a true wasteland in a mere second. The winds shot towards the temple, as a glowing shield seemed to appear around both the Shijima Temple and the Central Beacon. But… everything else was being destroyed. Being ripped apart by harsh winds and destructive forces. The ground began to splinter and crack, chasms slowly forming in the Earth. The fighting had slowed to a halt, as Belial let out a hearty laugh. 

_”The girl truly did it. I knew I shouldn’t have doubted Lord Lucifer’s plan, but this… this is truly a sight to see.”_

“Luci...fer…?” She gripped her head, eyes squinting shut. This was Lucifer’s doing? But… it had to be. She had never gotten the woman’s name, she had just assumed it was some benevolent, holy avatar. She turned behind her, the massive angel Sandalphon grabbing Belial by the neck, lifting him up.

_”Speak, filth! What has Lord Lucifer done to this woman?!”_ The angel yelled, his voice breaking from the robotic monotone to a sound of pure anger. _”Are these humans doomed?! Have you and your chaotic master forsaken us all?!”_

Belial chuckled. _”Calm yourself, puppet of God. This is the end of this world. There was no chance of it progressing or growing. Becoming better, or even worse. A stagnant world where Lord Lucifer ruled… while I was fine with it, our master was unsatisfied. So, he orchestrated a plan to end things once and for all. And… while this Temple shall hold up longer than the rest, eventually the destruction of the Grand Cross shall end this ‘holy ground’ as well.”_

Tamaki’s throat felt dry. She couldn’t even bring herself to look at the remaining humans that she had brought here. The Persona-users that had agreed to fight for her sake. For her pipe dream that turned out to be nothing but a sham. There was the quiet rumble of panicked conversation occurring behind her, voices wondering what to do. Admonishing her for her foolishness. Expressing fear for their lives. Her eyes drifted to the cold, bloodstained floor of the temple, tears welling up in her eyes. How could she be so stupid! To think that someone like her deserved any sort of redemption- any sort of positive resolution after everything she had done. She heard the faint waddle of footsteps behind her.

_”Tamak-hee, it’s okay!”_ Hee-ho-kun said, wrapping his cold arms around her waist. _”Mayb-hee, this was the best way to end this, ho! Everyone has to say goodbye sometime…”_

“It’s different for demons…” She mumbled. “If a demon dies, there’s a chance it can come back. But… if a person dies, it’s forever. My karma’s caught up to me.” She punched at the ground. “I...I just wanted to be a hero one more time. And instead I was arrogant, and selfish, and--”

“Tamaki-san.” Katsuya spoke up. She turned, looking up at him. She couldn’t bring herself to meet his gaze fully. “We can find out a solution for this. It… may be difficult, sure, but we need to--”

“I’m going to kill Lucifer.” Tamaki muttered, getting up and marching past Katsuya. The others watched as he jogged behind her.

“Tamaki-san, that’s not it either! I’d rather not have anyone else die today!”

“I deserve it.” She huffed. “Might as well go out in a blaze of attempted glory.”

“Very noble, but so, so stupid.” Katsuya snapped. “Let’s think things through.” He tried to reason, as Tamaki continued forward, reaching the steps. Neither Belial or Lucifuge tried to stop her, their gazes piercing into her. She could imagine the smug smiles on their faces. She wasn’t a threat anymore. She was just an insect. Just a human. There was nothing she could do except fight, and even then… her victory was far from guaranteed. She paused, as something was caught in the corner of her eye. A lily. Pristine and white. Shining with a warm light. “...Wait.” Maya had mentioned a lily before. From the Archangel Gabriel. She reached down to pick it up.

“Maya must have dropped that before she ascended the steps.” Katsuya murmured. 

“It’s not like we would’a needed it.” Chie offered. “Amamiya-kun probably tore through any of the angels that we would have needed to convince using it.” The other Persona-users nodded, hesitantly, before three massive shapes flew down the steps, shooting over head the humans and landing a fair distance away from Sandalphon. Three more Archangels. Michael, Uriel, and Raphael. 

_”Hark, Sandalphon!”_ Uriel said. _”We heard commotion, and considering our ‘Lord Lucifer’ is busy with the human, we wished to follow our curiosity.”_

Raphael sighed. _”It seems as if the stains of battle have tainted these humans as well.”_ The angel turned, looking outside. _”...What in the Lord’s name... ? Our world is being destroyed as we speak? But how?”_

Sandalphon let go of Belial, the Archdemon dropping to the ground with a choked laugh. _”...A long story, my kin. But these humans are in danger. If you have any ideas of how to save them, I am perfectly willing to listen.”_

Uriel gave his two brothers a sideways glance. _”Seems like the perfect time for a Chariot…”_ He muttered. Raphael huffed.

_”Hush brother, Michael isn’t comfortable doing the fusion without Gabriel. That being said…”_ Raphael sighed, before glancing over at Michael, the orange-skinned angel staring down at Tamaki with interest. _”What is it?”_

Tamaki felt Michael’s eyes boring into her, her heart pounding. She wondered if the angel could see the sins weighing her down, if the angel was contemplating killing her where she stood. Instead, the muscular angel spoke in a gentle tone. _”Human. You are holding the Lily of Gabriel, correct?”_

Tamaki nodded, shakily. Uriel’s eyes widened. _”Ah! Of course, Gabriel kept her medium within the care of humans! If that had been destroyed, her revival would have been next to impossible!”_

Michael nodded. _”Reviving Gabriel fully would take too long. But… her essence may be enough to form a stable enough Chariot. We’ll need a surrogate body, however, to make up for the lack of her form.”_ He pointed at Tamaki’s COMP. _”You and that device both hold Magnetite, correct?”_

Tamaki nodded again. Michael smiled softly. _”Good. Then hope isn’t lost after all. Although not without sacrifice.”_

She understood what he was getting at. She looked down at Hee-ho-kun, and over at Cerberus. She’d need to let them go first. Her eyes drifted towards her ‘people’. The humans that had struggled to survive for years, before her gaze drifted towards the lily. She closed her eyes, taking a shaky breath before looking up at the three Archangels.

“Please tell me what I need to do.”

* * *

Ren found himself in what seemed to be a prison cell. He knew this wasn’t the Velvet Room. Instead of a deep, relaxing blue it was a harsh, ominous red. There was no music. No wardens waiting for him. No Lavenza waiting either. That, and the outside of the cell was filled with nothingness. An inky black void. A dark sea. It was as if keeping himself imprisoned as the only way to keep himself from drowning.

He slowly opened the door to the cell, the dark, sticky water splashing up and slowly starting to fill the cell. He slammed the door shut, slowly backing up before dropping onto the cold, miserable excuse for a ‘bed’ the cell had.

_Trapped once more, I see._

Ren blinked. “What?” He looked around. He… swore he heard a voice, before catching sight of someone sitting next to him that he could have sworn wasn’t there before. Ren scooted away, startled. It was… him. His face. His voice. But… different. The ‘him’ sitting down had yellow eyes, and was wearing a red jacket and a black hat. In all honesty, it reminded him of…

“Arsène.”

_In the flesh. Well, perhaps not. This world is of your own creation, after all._

“Like a… Palace?” Ren muttered, closing his eyes with a sigh. ‘Arsène’ chuckled, drumming his nails against the side of the cell. They were weirdly longer than Ren’s. Very stylish, though. Maybe this was a sign from his unconscious that he should try it out sometime.

_To think you would find yourself like this again, after searching so hard for freedom. I pity you._

Ren closed his eyes, rubbing his face. “I’m so confused. I hate this feeling. I know I’m missing something obvious. So… glaringly obvious. But I can’t focus enough to figure out what.” Arsène shrugged, crossing his legs, looking around the jail cell with a blasé expression on his face.

_I hope you figure it out soon. A cell is no place for the great Arsène Lupin. Nor a Phantom Thief like yourself._

Ren looked up. The cell. He slowly looked out to the dark, crashing, disgusting waves that pounded against the safety of his cell. If he stepped out of there, he might die. If he stayed in here, he might die, just at a much slower pace. He weighed his options, thinking. It wasn’t like he could just walk on water, but…

He opened the door to the cell, water rushing in as he grabbed the top of the cells doorframe, pulling himself up and sitting on the top of the floating cell, holding on tightly as it bobbed up and down. In a flash of blue flame, Arsène appeared next to him as well, giving him quiet applause.

_Very good. Now, look out. What do you see?_

He looked out into the endless darkness, frowning. “...Nothing.”

_Exactly. But is it familiar?_

“Not in the slightest. If… if this place is really in my head, then I should at least recognize some of the things. But the only thing that’s familiar is this cell, and even that isn’t right.” He rubbed his temples, thinking. He remembered that presence he felt while talking to Lucifer. There was something else in his head. He had come to the Temple in order to kill Lucifer, but… why? He had been fighting his friends, but why?

His friends.

He felt the paranoia sink in. That they were lying to him. That they had betrayed him. But… none of it seemed to add up. Time and time again they had tried to talk to him first. If they were really his enemies, and he had really ‘exposed’ them, then why would they bother trying to convince him otherwise? Something had been messing with him. Preying on his fears of being alone and manipulated, and in turn used those fears for make him alone and a target of manipulation. He had felt so free, but he was just following some unknown orders like some kind of idiot.

_To think something could manipulate a strong will like yours with a lie so translucent and simple. Either you’re dealing with a powerful being, or your heart has grown weak.”_

Ren frowned. “It hasn’t become weak.”

_Prove it to me. The pact we made was a pact of strength. If you no longer have that strength, then our pact is void._

Ren nodded, standing up, before diving into the dark water. It was thick, swimming through it was difficult and his body seemed to sting and burn on contact, as if he had dove into acid. He continued downward, his vision blurry and obscured, before he saw it. A multitude of glowing yellow eyes staring up at him from what he assumed was the bottom of this dark, painful sea. He recoiled slightly, wondering if they were demons waiting to strike, but… the way they were staring at him. As their forms became clearer- more defined- he saw a bit of himself in each of them. All of them were drastically different, but… they were him.

“My… Personas…?”

More than two hundred. Constant hours spent fusing within the Velvet Room to awaken to more parts of his soul. More potential within his form. They were chained down, all of their eyes boring into him with a sense of shame, guilt, and desperation. They had been held back. Obscured by the dark, chaotic waters. But they were him, and he was them. He couldn’t have awakened to any of them without the bonds he had forged. The times when he ate ramen with Ryuji. Going to Ann’s photoshoots. Watching Yusuke paint. The moments where he helped Sojiro around the cafe, or supported Futaba as she tried to fulfil her ‘promise list’. Investigating the Red Light District with Makoto, finding the truth with Sae, and helping Haru slowly grow into her own in the business world. Those late night talks with Morgana. That one last confrontation with Akechi. His strength had been through his bonds. If he had been alone throughout his time in Tokyo, he would have become nothing more than the dirt staining the pavement. 

He needed the others. And when they had needed him, he had turned his back on them.

He had forgotten about all of that? No, that wasn’t it. He remembered the importance of his bonds, he had just let himself get carried away in the fear and paranoia. To blame whatever presence was inside him was shallow. His heart had been too weak before. But not anymore. He wouldn’t let himself lose sight of something so simple, yet so important ever again.

The multitude of eyes staring up at him began to glow, as the forms slowly turned into a soft blue light, spiraling up towards Ren as the light brushed against his face. A sense of warmth filled him, the memories making themselves clearer, before he looked up at the form of Arsène floating above him, like a mirror image. The Persona nodded wordlessly, before taking Ren’s hand, taking the form of a white mask as it slowly drifted towards Ren’s face. He closed his eyes, happy. Satisfied. Still trapped, but at least somewhat content.

He tried to move, as he floated aimlessly in the dark sea, the presence still keeping a grip on him. His vision was dark for what seemed like seconds. Minutes. Hours. Time passed, and yet seemed to stay completely still, before a ray of light seemed to cut in from the surface of the brackish water. It felt like… cool moonlight. Something he had only seen out in the countryside. He smiled weakly, as he saw the faint form of a woman, reaching out to him. A goddess, maybe. Maybe just a hallucination. The woman continued to reach out towards him, her lips moving. 

“Wake… up…?” Ren repeated, quietly. He reached back, as the woman’s silhouette strained her arm to reach him. He continued reaching out, before grasping hold, before the form of the woman burst into a bright light that seemed to surround his body, slowly pulling him out of the water. The words became clearer.

_’Please, Amamiya-kun. Please, wake up!’_

* * *

Ren’s eyes slowly fluttered open, his head resting in someone’s lap. He looked up to see a woman holding him tightly, her eyes squeezed shut, her breathing panicked. The form of a Persona, elegant and shimmering, had its hands rested on his chest- the faint green glow of healing magic pulsing through its arms.

“Come on, Amamiya-kun… come on…!” The woman whispered.

“Amano-san…?” Ren whispered. The woman’s eyes opened, as she hugged him tighter in a sudden display of affection.

“Amamiya-kun! You’re alive! I’m going to tell you now that you’re loved, and your friends appreciate you, and whatever mean voices in your head are liars, and I really, really, really hope you don’t stab me because that’s a total ‘been there done that’ moment for me and I--”

Ren chuckled druly, hugging her back. “I’m okay… thank you, Amano-san… I’m… I’m really sorry.” He said, tears starting to fill his eyes. “I’ve… I’ve done so many bad things… I--”

She let go of the embrace, resting her hands on his shoulders as she looked him in the eyes. A genuine smile crossed her face, her expression filling Ren with a sense of warmth that he hadn’t realized he had missed so badly. “Enough of that, Amamiya-kun. It was that stupid jerk, Nyarly. I’m just happy that you’re okay, and feeling like yourself again.” She grinned. “So no more sad faces, okay? We’re going to get you back to your friends, and give you a normal summer! I promise! Think positive!”

Summer… he had forgotten it was summer break. This had been the longest day of his life. But he doubted things could just… go back to normal, no matter how admirable Maya’s enthusiasm was. “You said… it was… ‘Nyarly’...?” He was confused for a moment, before realizing. “Oh… Nyarlathotep…” He coughed. His body felt so much weaker. Probably because that presence- Nyarlathotep- was no longer giving him power. He coughed, straggling remains of viscous, black fluid dripping from his mouth. “Where… is it?”

Maya’s expression grew serious, as she glanced over to the side. Ren followed her gaze, watching as Lucifer struggled to pull a dark, twisting form from his body. The Demon Lord growled as Nyarlathotep slowly seemed to consume his form, as Maya slowly stood up and helped Ren to his feet. 

“We need to get out of here, Amamiya-kun.” She said. “Nyarly is strong enough, but with Lucifer…”

“No.” Ren muttered. “I’m sorry, Amano-san, but… I need to square things away. If Nyarlathotep was what was controlling me, I’ve gotta at least fight back. For real, this time.”

As soon as Ren spoke, Lucifer let out a pained, strangled scream before Nyarlathotep entirely took over the fallen angel’s form. No longer was it the elegant, androgynous being that had been speaking to Ren. His skin was a deep black, with pulsating green veins littering his arms and legs, and small white ‘masks’ in the shape of screaming human faces littered it’s body. Lucifer’s face was gone, entirely, replaced with a smooth black surface. His wings lost their feathers, and were instead twisted and bat-like, and flapped at awkward and irregular intervals.

**”How foolish… but fine. If you truly wish to die, then go on ahead, ‘Amamiya-kun’...”** The ‘new Lucifer’ chuckled.

Maya sighed. “If that’s how you feel, Amamiya-kun, then I’ll fight with you! Come forth, Artemis Prime!” She yelled, her body glowing with a powerful blue light, as her Persona took shape. 

Ren reached for his mask. Before, when ‘Akechi’ had given it to him, it felt awkward. Like it didn’t fit. And that’s because it wasn’t- it was a poor facsimile of his own mask. Now, however. It felt right. Natural. As if it had been there the entire time. A voice echoed throughout his head.

_”I am thou. Thou art I. Thou who art willing to escape from the chains of villainy, and perform actions that support thine own justice! Call upon my name, and assert your rebellion!”_

Ren ripped the mask off of his face with a splatter of blood, the mask shifting into a violent blue flame, alongside the rest of his body. A Persona began to form. Not the archaic, gentlemanly form of Arsène. Not the massive, demonic form of Satanael. This was something different. Something new. Black metallic wings spread outward, highlighted by strips and bevels of gold. A sleek, red jacket fluttered amongst the cursed flames, as red eyes stared forward towards Nyarlathotep. Clawed hands snapped forward, as sharpened, gilded heels menacingly hovered over Ren’s head. The Persona gripped at a red fedora, slowly tracing its fingers across the brim as Ren wiped the blood from his face in a similar motion. It let out a hearty, confident laugh.

_”I am more than the pillager of twilight. I am the thief that has stolen countless hearts, and freed countless souls. A true Phantom Thief stands against tyranny, and the demon before me represents that tenfold!”_

Ren nodded. “I’ve gotten tired of this act, Nyarlathotep. So I’m calling an end for this performance, with Amano-san’s help. Now, Raoul! It’s time for the final curtain call!” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I had to drag the scene away from Nyarlathotep and Lucifer and cut it down because I legitimately could have written like. 20,000 words on the different views of chaos and where these two 'chaos reps' fall on it and elaborate more on Lucifer's lethargy regarding his situation and ugh.
> 
> It's hard, sometimes.
> 
> ANYWAYS.
> 
> **Next Chapter:** Vs. Nyx!


	31. All-Out-Attack!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't ease your pace, 'cuz enemy's brutal
> 
> Moment of truth, There ain't no truce
> 
> You're the only one, one world, one love
> 
> But the battle goes on, Shadows of mass destruction!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the final battle against Nyx! Old allies come back. New techniques are forged. Teddie... dies? That doesn't sound bear-y good!

The sky was a deep, ominous green. The sparse clouds seemed frozen in place, as the massive moon-like form of Nyx slowly grew closer. Yu hadn’t been present for the true ‘Dark Hour’. The one that Kirijo-san and the others spoke of with averted eyes and hushed tones. The brief foray into the false Dark Hour created by Minazuki and Hinokagutsuchi was the closest he had gotten, and even then… this didn’t compare. The streets of Tokyo had already been ravaged by demons, but it seemed to become even more apparent. Puddles of water that leaked from destroyed water fixtures and pipes were a dark, heavy red- the color of blood. An oppressive silence hung over the group of Persona-users as they prepared themselves. 

But at the same time as that feeling of overwhelming pressure clung to his body, he could feel something else pushing forward. His Persona daring to burst forth, called by a sense of justice. A sense of survival. Personas were no more than tamed demons and Shadows. That sense of battle- that need to push itself forth and survive was universal, no matter what side of the battlefield it stood on. 

Yuuki summoned his Persona, ‘Orpheus Telos’ hovering above the rest of the group as a deafening wail spilled from its body. A battle cry. A sign of war. One after another, the group of Persona users summoned their own inner selves, readying themselves for battle.

_”Takehaya Susano-o!”_

_“Seiten Taisei!”_

_“Yamato Sumeragi!”_

_“Yamaoka!”_

_“Trismegistus!”_

There was no speech. No rallying cry. It wasn’t needed. Just like Yu, they all had the feeling that now- now was the way that they could finish everything. Yu had always thought summoning a Persona was difficult. There was a flow to it, but doing it outside of the Midnight Channel had seemed to be nothing but a pipe dream. But… well, this was the Dark Hour. Summoning was easier. Second nature, in a world like this. A world where humans had no place- a world they had infiltrated.

_”Hades!”_

_“Sumeo-Okami!”_

_“Isis!”_

_“Caesar!”_

_“Inanna!”_

Yu watched as dark liquid seemed to pour from Nyx’s massive red ‘eye’. Globules began to hurtle towards the earth, slowly splitting apart and forming bodies. Indistinct at first, before the growing sense of familiarity seemed to fill Yu. Shadows. Shadows that he hadn’t seen since the Midnight Channel. Far from their concentrated, demonic shapes. Nothing but viscous puddles of black goo and expressionless masks that stretched and formed weapons made for tearing a ripping through humans. More flashes of blue shone in his peripheral vision as more and more of his teammates summoned their Personas.

_”Anat!”_

_“Venus!”_

_“Durga!”_

_“Kamui-Moshiri!”_

_“Verdandi!”_

_“Ella!”_

_“Artemisia!”_

He looked to his side, Adachi stepping next to him. Eyes focused towards the sky. “...Looks like this is it, Yu-kun. Better give this thing the same beating you gave me. Remember. If we screw this up, Dojima-san and Nanako-chan are done for.” He said. Yu nodded, hesitantly. The results of this fight wouldn’t just end in Tokyo. And… if all of them died here, then the chances for peace would be almost impossible. “Glad you understand, Yu-kun. Now, if you’ll allow me…” He trailed off before his eyes flashed yellow, the mangled, distorted form of his Persona coming forth in a blaze of dark, fog-like energy.

_”Magatsu-Izanagi!”_

Tatsuya clenched his fists, closing his eyes as his body was surrounded by flames. “Killing a god should be impossible… but I’m growing tired of assuming what people can and can’t do. I have the chance to fight alongside others again. I’m not going to ruin it.” He growled, as the flames spun upward into a spiral, a humanoid, powerful form slowly making its way from the Sea of Human Souls.

_”Apollo Prime!”_

Yu glanced over at Maruki, who seemed hesitant at the most. But… something was coming forth. He watched as dark, bioluminescent tendrils slowly began prying their way from the ground, slowly growing and winding upward. They didn’t glow with the same heroic, blue light as the other Personas- or the chaotic, dark energy of Adachi’s power. They seemed almost alien as they slowly began to multiply and split, twist and combine into a massive shape. Towering over all of the Persona-users like they were ants as a dangerously large humanoid form came into fruition, the tendrils pulsing as they grew ‘flesh’, before slowly becoming covered in a shimmering gold armor. It was a sight to behold, a sense of awe coming from Takuto’s allies as they looked over to see the monolith that he had created. Maruki’s eyes were a tense yellow, sweat pouring down his face as he dropped to one knee, shaking.

_”I...I can control you this time. Adam Kadmon!”_

“Following that up seems hard.” Naoya chuckled, before his eyes shone a brilliant blue. “But size isn’t everything. It’s just you and me left, Narukami-san.” He said with a nod, before summoning his own Persona. A sense of power and regality seemed to shine from the earring-adorned man as he summoned his Persona with a massive burst of almighty energy.

_”Amon-Ra!”_

Yu nodded. Nyx’s Shadows drew closer, their forms becoming more defined and dangerous. He held out his hand, a glowing tarot card coming into view. It rotated slowly, the arcana changing each rotation. Fourteen rotations, starting from the Fool. The Magician. The Priestess. The Empress. The Emperor. The Hierophant. The Lovers. The Chariot. Justice. The Hermit. Fortune. Strength. The Hanged Man. Death. Temperance. The Devil. The Tower. The Star. The Moon. The Sun. Judgement.

The World.

“Per… so… na.” He reached out to the card, his fingers clasping around it before shattering it in his grip. Energy raced through his body, before a form came forth in a blaze of glowing energy. It was familiar, warm like the embrace of an old friend. Izanagi-no-Okami shot into the air, blades spinning as it slashed through the first Shadow before it made impact with the ground. The signal was clear. The battlefield erupted in a blaze of spells and Shadows, the dark, dull sky of the ‘Dark Hour’ becoming illuminated with a myriad of colors.

It had been a while since he had fought like this… although it was a bit awkward having to fight without a sword. He wasn’t exactly keen on punching Shadows- although people like Sanada-san didn’t seem to have the same inhibitions. Still, just being able to use his Persona like this- have a tangible enemy to cleave through just like back in the T.V World was exciting enough. It was almost like his body was moving on autopilot, Izanagi striking Shadows with astounding speed that it almost seemed like his Persona noticed them before Yu himself did. And… maybe that was the case. 

His time as ‘Izanagi’ had been… murky, at best. There was a brief moment where he felt like he was passively watching the battle- watching as he seemed to grow infinitely stronger as wave after wave of his former friends tried to take him down. But the stronger ‘Izanagi’ got, the more blurred his own vision became, before he was alone. It was like a dream, and he wasn’t sure if he would have been able to wake up if it wasn’t for the others. 

Speaking of Izanagi, there had been something that his ‘other self’ had said that he had picked up as he had grown… more lucid.

_’...Do you not feel it? The premonitions of pain to be. I simply… I simply thought that if people could embrace their inner gods and demons, they may be able to avoid such pain. Humanity is filled with sin and avarice, I thought that… perhaps a new start was in order.’_

Incoming pain… creating a ‘new start’... Izanagi had been sensing things beyond what Yu knew. As much as his Persona went ‘berserk’, for a few minutes he had actually touched divinity, and some of the sensitivities and omnipotence that came with such a status. Yu had assumed that the god was talking about Nyx, and while that was the easiest, most clear option- he hadn’t gotten as far as he had going for the easy options. After all, Nyx was just going to kill everything, right? It didn’t matter- God or Demon. Human or Angel. If Nyx succeeded, then that just meant the end, some sort of ‘new start’ wasn’t exactly an option. So… what was Izanagi referring to? He slowed to a halt, rubbing his chin in thought as a Shadow launched toward him. He looked up too late, attempting to summon his Persona before a dark, twisted form carved it in half.

“Focus, Yu-kun. Didn’t you hear the shit I said about ‘doing this for Dojima-san and Nanako-chan’? You could at least take this seriously.”

He… hadn’t really clocked he was fighting alongside Adachi until he saw Magatsu-Izanagi shoot past him, blade cleaving into another Shadow before causing it to burst apart with a massive gust of wind. “...So, Adachi-san… how…”

“Prison’s fine. I’m eating okay. I’m planning on going back after this. Focus on the fucking fight, Yu-kun.” The older man replied, his tone dry and apprehensive as Yu’s own Persona zapped several Shadows at once. They seemed to be endless, Nyx releasing more massive, disgusting globules of ‘Shadow’ that seemed to multiply and split into more and more fodder. It was getting a bit overwhelming, all things considered. Even with the considerable amount of strength from everybody, they only had so much ‘spirit’ to spare, and the amount of toll physical skills did to the body meant that they needed to fight carefully and in a calculated manner. 

“On your left, sensei! Bearsona!” He heard Teddie scream, as a ridiculously large barrage of missile-shaped icicles shot from the bear’s Persona, curving up into the air and battering another one of Nyx’s shadow deployments, causing it to fizzle out and splatter about unceremoniously. “Aw, no! I wanted more of a ‘boom’! Or a ‘dokkan’! Or a ‘clang-clang’!” Teddie whined, waddling up next to Yu as Izanagi-no-Okami stabbed it’s blade into another blank, empty mask. 

“It’s fine, Teddie. Just, be more careful with conserving your energy--” Yu began, before being interrupted.

“On your right, partner!” Yosuke yelled, as Takehaya Susano-o’s spinning blade whiffed past Yu’s head, cleaving effortlessly through enemies as it generated tornado-like winds. Yosuke sprinted past him, clearly more excited to be back on the battlefield- or at least a battlefield where he was generally guaranteed not to lose in some humiliating fashion. “Wooh! Did you see that! Looks like I still have some skills.”

Yu chuckled. “I see. Badass as always, partner. Just- let’s try and be careful with--”

“Watch your head, Yu!” Yu heard Yukiko yell as he ducked, a massive spiral of flame shot over his head, causing a massive explosion as bits of Shadow parts went spiraling wildly in other directions. He turned around, watching as his black-haired teammate performed a series of elegant, extravagant, impressive (and yet entirely unneeded) poses that her Persona mirrored, sending off a wave of overwhelming flame after each set. She… also managed to have her fans, which seemed incredibly strange considering nobody else had their weapons on hand. 

...He wasn’t going to ask. 

“Yukiko, watch your power- you might need to focus on healing us if things get hairy!” He yelled. She wasn’t listening, getting extremely into watching the Shadows fall apart to her fire spells. She was having a hard time keeping her composure too, eventually bursting out in a fit of giggles as Sumeo-Okami used it’s wing-like arms to cleave through one of the viscous beings.

“Snrk-- Yu! Look, look! They’re like- like-..hehe.. silly putty when they explode! Oohaha! What if we collected the pieces and--hee...hehe...ahahaha!” She called out to Yu. He chuckled a bit nervously. She hadn’t been this excitable like this since they were teenagers. Then, to be fair, they hadn’t fought since they were teenagers. Of course, his train of thought was sent wildly off course as a bullet whizzed past his head, narrowly missing him and grazing past a Shadow that was was sneaking up on him. He turned to the source, looking at a determined, yet… still blind Naoto that was trying to fight.

“Sorry, senpai! I was trying to triangulate the shot based on Yukiko’s laughing, and your talking, and the Shadow’s gurgling. Did I hit it? I think I hit it. Are- are you dead, senpai?” She called out. 

“Did you just call me ‘senpai’? I thought we told you and Kanji that you didn’t need to call us that anymore.” Yu noted. Naoto’s cheeks flared red, as she pulled the brim of her hat over her face.

“Did… did I? I guess-- I mean, the last time we engaged in combat like this, you were my-- I guess it was just muscle memory? I-I…”

“That doesn’t matter! Can we get someone to assist Naoto?” He turned to Teddie and Yosuke, who were in the middle of curb-stomping another Shadow. “Teddie! Support Naoto, please!”

The bear looked up, before giving him an excited salute, sprinting across the battlefield and over to Naoto, wrapping one, large, felt-like arm around the woman. “Got it, sensei! Nao-chan is in my un-bear-ably capable hands! Hehe… it’s kind of funny to see Nao-chan so helpless! Normally she tries to act all scary and composed!”

Naoto- while blind- was still able to shoot the bear a withering glare. “You know, you’re close enough for me to hit accurately with my gun, no matter what my state of vision is. Teddie.”

“U-U-Understood! Shirogane Nao-chan-sama is a cap-bear-ble woman with a real, actual firearm!”

Yosuke laughed. “Cap-bear-ble? That was a slant pun at best, Teddie! Try again!” He clapped his hands together, before tripping over one of the spindly, grounded arms of a Shadow, landing on his back. “Ack-- Partner!”

Yu shook his head, going back to fighting as he shocked the Shadow off of Yosuke. The Investigation Team. What a well-oiled machine they were. There was a moment where, amidst the fighting, Nanjo Kei approached him. The man was… impressive, to say the least. His Persona was smacking away Shadows with ease as he walked through the growing battlefield with a sense of authority. Yu wasn’t sure why the head of the Nanjo Group was approaching him, although he did have a vague memory of absolutely obliterating Nanjo with lightning, so Yu felt a bit awkward to say the least.

“Narukami-san.” Kei said, his tone tense.

“Um, yes, Nanjo-san?” Yu replied.

“Please get a hold of your team. This is a battlefield, not a playground.” Kei scolded, Yu frowning in response. He knew Nanjo had a point, but that didn’t mean that his team was wrong for wanting to enjoy themselves while they fought. Staying dark and dreary during a battle didn’t help anybody. This battle was supposed to be a cinch, and they hadn’t had a chance to cut loose like this since high school. Of course they were going to try and enjoy the moment a little bit.

“Sorry, Nanjo-san, but we’re getting the job done, right? No offense, but I’ll ‘get a hold of my team’ when it’s necessary.” Yu responded, as politely as he could. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, we’ve got some Shadows to tear up.” He ran past Nanjo, helping up Yosuke. 

“Hey, Partner?” Yosuke said, “I was looking around, and these people were doing these really cool combo-spell lookin’ things. I was thinking that, y’know…”

The fusion spells. Izanagi had gotten hit with a few of those, and they hurt like hell. “I’d be willing to give it a shot if you are, Yosuke.” Yu said, nodding. “But… what should we do? We’ve got wind, and we’ve got electricity…”

“And you’ve got Teddie!” Teddie yelled. Yosuke rolled his eyes, shoving the bear away.

“Not a chance! Find another person to try it with!” Yosuke yelled, before turning back to Yu. “Still, I think I have an idea. Just… how open are you to getting blown?”

Yu raised an eyebrow. “Yosuke, just because Rise isn’t here…”

“That’s not what I meant! Just- brace yourself!” He summoned his Persona, Yu watching as the blade-like ring that circled Takehaya Susano-o was moved until it was surrounding Yu instead. He did as Yosuke asked, bracing himself before he was surrounded by intense winds, and found himself being flung into the air. He guessed that he needed to improvise from here, so he summoned his Persona, letting several bolts of electricity loose as they got caught up in the winds, forming a massive, sparking tornado in the middle of the battlefield. Shadows found themselves getting sucked up and eviscerated in the maelstrom, turning into nothing but dark ash and messy puddles before Yu found himself falling to the ground, Yosuke quickly trying to catch him in his arms before the two of them collapsed in a messy pile. 

Yosuke laughed. “Oh, we totally nailed that!”

“I’m feeling kind of dizzy, though…” Yu replied, before chuckling. “Man, why didn’t we do that back in the T.V World…?”

The two of them laughed together for a short moment, before hearing the sounds of female protest come from a few feet away.

“Wh- hey, Teddie! What are you doing?!” Yukari yelled.

“M-Mister Teddie, no offense, but is this really the time to be playing around?” ‘Violet’ asked. “Besides, my dad told me not to hang out with strangers…”

“Watch where you’re grabbing, Teddie!” Yukiko yelled.

Yu and Yosuke looked over at Teddie, who has assembled a small pile of women consisting of Yukiko, Yukari, Violet, and Naoto. Junpei was there too, although he seemed to have just followed out of curiosity instead of being dragged along like the others.

“Teddie is going to be doing his own ‘fusion spell’! Since Yosuke and Sensei wanted to hog all the fun for themselves!” Teddie yelled, defiantly. “With a ton of beautiful ladies, too! Nao-chan to bring some mysterious flavor! Yuki-chan to add some elegance and spice! Yuka-chan to sprinkle in some star power! Violet-chan to insert a dash of Phantom Thief-y goodness! And, while not a beautiful lady, Junpei-san because he knows how to have a good time! All of it mixing together with Teddie’s Teddie-ness to make a hard-hitting, face-splitting, go-getting meal of power!”

Yukari rolled her eyes, before looking over at Junpei. “Why are we even bothering with this? Mitsuru-senpai and Makoto have been giving us like, actual tactical things to do.”

Junpei shrugged, grinning. “It’s Teddie, there’s no way am I missing out on whatever dumb thing he had planned.”

“Wonderfully put, Junpei-san! Although, somewhat wrong. I’m not doing something ‘dumb’, I’m doing something ‘awesome’!” Teddie yelled. “Now, Yosuke and Sensei…”

Yosuke frowned. “We’re not doing your dumb--”

“OF COURSE YOU CAN JOIN! Because Teddie includes everybody! Now, watch and learn! It’s time to attack the source! The Big Bad Mama-jama in the sky!” Teddie pointed towards Nyx. Which… didn’t exactly inspire confidence in Yu. The idea of Teddie being the one to lead the first, official, direct attack on Nyx seemed like a cruel joke. Of course, Teddie didn’t give Yu much time to deliberate on whether he wanted to participate or not, as the bear slowly began constructing a giant, hollow orb made of ice, with a fairly sizeable hole in the bottom. “Grraaaah! Now, everyone! Fill this baby with as much magic as you can! Except for Nao-chan!”

Yosuke sighed. “Teddie, that ball is made of ice, and Yukiko and Iori-san use fire spells, it’s going to mel--”

“Shut up, Yosuke, and fill my ice baby! Besides, this is special Teddie-Ice! Guaranteed not to melt like your average ice!”

“You are SO weird! And ‘Teddie-Ice’ isn’t a thing!”

Yu shrugged, focusing half of his energy on beating back the incoming Shadows, and the other half on filling the massive ice container that Teddie had built. The others did the same, the orb glowing as more energy filled it, spells bouncing around rapidly. Eventually, Teddie was satisfied.

“Good! Now, give it a kiss for good luck, Nao-chan!”

Naoto shook her head. “My lips would most likely get stuck if I kissed a block of solid ice…”

“Raaaagh. Figures. Kanji would be mad if I ruined Nao-chan’s lips. Can you bless it for me, then?” He asked. Naoto nodded, summoning her Persona as she casted a bless spell on the large orb of ice, causing it to shimmer with a holy light. Teddie laughed, before plugging up the hole in the ice sphere. “Now, for the finishing touches!” Teddie yelled, before adding a few more decorations and additions to his orb.

Yukari sighed. “No way…”

Yukiko quickly tried to suppress another laughing fit, while Yosuke pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning. “Teddie… what the hell? I regret even being a part of this…”

Yu stared up at Teddie’s ‘additions’- which were essentially a few aesthetic ‘upgrades’ that turned the featureless orb of ‘Teddie Ice’ into a ice replica of Teddie’s own face. Teddie skipped over to it, before positioning himself slightly under it.

“Okay! Now it’s Teddie’s turn to do some heavy lifting! Graaaaaaaaa--!” His body began glowing with a furious yellow energy. A power that Yu hadn’t seen since Rise’s dungeon. Of course, everyone who wasn’t there for Teddie going ‘bear-serk’ was immensely confused. Teddie slowly began lifting the orb off the ground, before the bear and the massive, energy-filled mass of ice were slowly hovering off the ground. Before anybody could get another word in, the two, round figures rocketed into the air in a trail of raw Teddie-power and smoke. And… they kept going for a while. Which added to the credence of just how far away, and how massive Nyx was in comparison to everyone else. 

“Tamaya!” Junpei yelled, as there was eventually a very distant explosion of energy, and… well, little to no actual feedback from Nyx. Maybe the eye twitched? Yu wasn’t even sure if the attack hit or not. 

“I can’t believe Teddie is dead.” Yu said, bowing his head. “A moment of silence.”

Junpei took off his hat, as he and Yukari bowed their heads as well. “Ted was a weird guy, but an honorable fighter. He’ll be missed.” Junpei said, entirely deadpan. 

Yosuke clapped his hands together in a prayer position. “Farewell, Teddie. You shall remain on in our memories.” 

“Farewell.” Naoto and Yukiko echoed, doing the same. 

There was the faint sound of screaming in the distance. 

Violet looked around frantically. “W-wait, is Mister Teddie actually dead?! Oh, oh no!”

The screaming grew louder, as Yu noticed a small figure falling from the sky. “Somebody catch meeeeee-!!” Teddie screamed as he plummeted from the sky. His bear costume was aflame and tattered, and his human body was half-hanging out of it as he spiraled in the air. “AAAAAAA--” 

Yu held out his arms, effortlessly catching Teddie.

“Sensei! I always knew you’d be there to catch me when I fall! My hero!” Teddie said, hopping from Yu’s arms. “But, how was that? Come on, where’s my praise?”

“We should focus back on the fight.” Murmured Naoto.

“Agreed.” Nodded Yukari, idly blasting away another Shadow. “C’mon, Junpei. I’m sure Mitsuru-senpai isn’t happy we dropped out of formation.”

Junpei chuckled. “Right. Alright, seeya Ted.”

Violet sighed. “I… should get back to the others. I’m glad you’re not dead, Mister Teddie!”

The crowd around Teddie slowly dispersed, as the bear was left alone, more Shadows slowly dropping from the sky and encroaching on his position as the bear looked around wildly.

Teddie stepped out of his burnt bearskin, whimpering slightly at the singed state of his fur as he watched everyone else walk off and handle their own set of enemies. “W-wait! Come on, everyone! The Teddie-Fusion-Bomber was an amazing technique! We all worked together! Come on, won’t someone at least acknowledge it?!”

* * *

...Makoto wasn’t exactly sure what to expect when a giant bear-head slammed against a massive Shadow. Or how to react. So… she just decided to ignore it and handle the rest of the battle with her sister and Ryuji. She watched as Sumire came back, her expression… weirdly difficult to read. Makoto wasn’t sure if her kouhai was unimpressed, relieved, or just… wasn’t experiencing any emotion towards what happened in the first place.

“So… Violet. What was that about?” Makoto asked.

“...Mister Teddie blew himself up.” Sumire replied, “He’s not dead though, so don’t worry.”

“Right. Okay. Sure. Oh, can you do me a favor and cast ‘Brave Step’? I have a plan and I need an extra bit of ‘punch’.” Makoto asked. Sumire nodded, summoning her Persona in an elegant burst of light, before it flipped backward, unleashing a wave of golden energy that surrounded her allies. Makoto felt her senses intensify, running forward and landing a direct, powerful hit on one of the Shadows that was shifting forward. She looked over at Ryuji, who was having a… well, a wonderful time bludgeoning enemies with his Persona’s staff, and random debris he found on the ground. 

“Skull!” Makoto yelled. Ryuji looked over, confused. “Showtime!” She pointed at a series of flying Shadows that had been quickly approaching the Phantom Thieves. 

“Huh? But we don’t have Jose’s-- oh- I get it!” He started sprinting towards the Shadows, Makoto doing the same before she quickly overtook him, jumping into the air. Ryuji grabbed a loose pipe from off the ground, jumping after Makoto and swinging it, watching as Makoto landed on the bar mid-swing, before using the momentum of the full motion to send her shooting further into the air and above the approaching flying Shadows. She reeled back her fist, nuclear energy gathering in it before she started rocketing toward the ground, swinging her fist as it practically atomized the flying Shadows on impact, and caused a massive, nuclear explosion once the made contact with the ground, sending another set of Shadows flying backward.

“Excellent work, Skull!” Makoto yelled. Ryuji gave her a thumbs up, before jabbing the pipe he had used into the eye of a Shadow.

“Thanks, Queen! Oh, watch your six! Or your--”

“Got it!” She ducked out of the way, dodging to the side and slamming her heel into the face of another Shadow, shattering the mask. “How’s Sis doing?” 

“Doc is taking care of her, I think!”

Doctor Maruki. She hadn’t even considered him- which was odd, considering how massive his Persona was. Adam Kadmon wasn’t fast, but it was able to make broad enough swings that could obliterate wave after wave of Shadows with ease. Which was fairly useful, considering that Nyx seemed to have an infinite supply of them coming in. Sae was trying her hardest to fight too, despite her injuries. Most of it was stationary healing and setting up the occasional barrier, but every so often Sae would feel bold enough to send out a nuclear fireball, only to wince and collapse as Doctor Maruki tried to at least lessen her pain for the moment. 

Makoto was just about to run over and check on her sister before Nyx finally did something other than spew out Shadows. The gigantic moon seemed to shudder, ever so slightly, as it sent out a massive pulse that seemed to distort the dull green of the sky to a vibrant red for a mere millisecond, as a sense of fear found itself forced into Makoto’s head. Futaba’s voice rang out through Al Azif, sending out an alert to all of the combating Persona-users.

_”Incoming enemies! Not shadows this time! Demons! All the baddies we didn’t eliminate before in the city!”_

Well. That wasn’t good.

“Okay, Phantom Thieves! Pull the focus away from Nyx’s Shadows and set up a defense for the incoming demons!” Makoto commanded. Ryuji ran up next to her, turning back to the others.

“Oi, Doc! Set up Kadmon to swat down any of the fliers! Niijima-san, please set up some barriers! Violet- keep doin’ what you’ve been doin’!” He called out. Makoto glanced over at him, as Ryuji blushed. “Oh- uh, shit. Didn’t mean t’step on your toes, Queen.”

Makoto shook her head, smiling slightly. “No, I just… wasn’t expecting that. Seems like you can really step up to the plate.” She nodded, satisfied. “Now I know you’ve really just been goofing off before. I’ll hold you to a higher standard.”

Ryuji’s eyes widened. “What?! No! Keep the bar where it is, please! Your ‘standards’ are effin’ insane!”

She didn’t listen to his protests, instead rushing over to face the incoming demons. She summoned Anat, jumping on and blazing forward in a trail of nuclear fire, before seeing a form quickly catch up to her in a similar blaze of azure flame. 

“Sis! Stay back! You’re still hurt!”

Sae shook her head. “I’m not letting you fight by yourself! Besides, you’re not exactly in the best condition either. As your older sister, I have to take care of you!”

Sae… had a point. The time between getting possessed by ‘Anat’ and becoming lucid again was blurry, and she had felt extremely weak and lightheaded beforehand, but those symptoms were much less prevalent now. Besides, she had to fight- someone had to hold up command for the Phantom Thieves. So, there was no way she was just going to let her older sister fight with her injuries. “It’s fine, Sis! Let me take care of you this time!” Makoto yelled, sending out a powerful wave of energy toward the incoming demons, forming a chasm in the ground.

“This is my responsibility, Makoto!” Sae screamed, the back wheels of Inanna digging into the flesh of an unwitting demon as Sae ‘revved’ her Persona, eviscerating it in seconds.

“You’re too tired to fight!” Makoto retorted, absentmindedly grabbing the neck of one of their demonic adversaries and snapping it, before flinging it onto the ground where it dissipated with a disgusting splatter. “Just take a break for once, Sis!”

“You’re tired too!” Sae shouted, grabbing one of the back legs of a demon that had been flying too close to the sisters, and ripped one of its legs off, paying no attention as it screamed and slammed into the ground, before being unceremoniously run over by Inanna. “Just because I don’t want to take a break doesn’t mean you can’t, Makoto!”

Futaba quickly cut in.

_”Ladies, ladies! You’re both weirdly strong and scary! But watch out- there’s a big wave coming!”_

The two sisters turned to see a massive, dark wave of Shadows and Demons piling towards them. Adam Kadmon swung a massive arm, clearing out half of them- but half wasn’t anywhere close to enough. They braced themselves, preparing their own spells to try and lessen the impact, before they heard the sharp sound of a gunshot.

_”Kala-Nemi!”_

A blur of orange and black shot in front of Sae and Makoto, it’s limbs glowing with a holy energy. “Now, Mahamaon!” A boy’s voice yelled, before in one massive burst of expellant magic the demons and Shadows vanished in a mass of white light, the only ones remaining being a few stragglers that managed to resist, that were quickly dispatched by Kala-Nemi’s sharp movements.

Makoto turned around. “That Persona…!” She looked back, seeing a boy with brown hair- half of it messy, and the other half slicked with blood. His body was covered with bruises and scrapes, his skin caked a dusty grey from debris and asphalt. One arm was limp, being held against his side, while the other was clutching a gun-like object for dear life. “...Amada-san?”

Wasn’t he in the Kirijo Building when it collapsed? “How are you…”

“Alive?” Ken asked, grimacing. “I don’t know. I don’t care. A lot of things are hurting right now, but I’ve been worse.” He grimaced, dropping to one knee. “Nope. I lied. This is the worst I’ve ever been. I kind of wish I was dead right now.” 

Sae raised an eyebrow. “You know this boy, Makoto?”

Makoto nodded, driving Anat up to him, and helping him onto her Persona. “We’re… briefly acquainted. He did a lot of investigating into the Phantom Thieves earlier this summer. And then we fought, and I… well, you know how Yoyogi Park exploded?”

Sae sighed. “Makoto, no.”

“...It was mainly my fault, ma’am…” Ken replied, coughing. “Should have thought things through.”

In the midst of their talking, they hadn’t realized another wave of demons shooting towards them, claws outstretched. The three Persona-users braced themselves, before another voice cut into everyone’s minds. It wasn’t Futaba this time. A bit older, a bit more experienced.

_”Come, Juno! Oracle!”_

The three of them suddenly found themselves surrounded by an orange barrier, the demons slamming against it as their attacks were reflected backward, causing them to practically evaporate in black smoke. Another noise cut through the battle- a howl. It was fierce, terrifying, like it came from some sort of apex, canine predator.

_”Awoooo!”_

A burst of flame incinerated the remaining Shadows in the wave, as Sae, Makoto, and Ken’s gaze slowly shifted over to two more figures approaching the group. One was a teal-haired woman incased in a floating, humanoid Persona with a long, elegant, red dress and large, speaker-like wings. The next was a dog. An albino shiba inu. It was adorable, if not totally out of place. Makoto heard Ken chuckle.

“Yamagishi-san… Koromaru…!” 

Looking closer, it was easy to tell that Koromaru was suffering from the same things that Naoto and Kirijo were- with eyes coated in dripping black liquid. Although the enhanced senses of a dog probably made up for the lack of vision, and Makoto could only assume that ‘Yamagishi-san’ was suffering the same way, but had the benefit of being able to use a support-type Persona to also make up for her impairment. 

Yamagishi continued transmitting her voice telepathically.

_”Ken-kun! You’re okay! And… wait, I sense the others, but is Leader here too? Where is he? Leader!”_

Koromaru yipped as he dashed towards Makoto and Ken, hopping into Ken’s lap and happily licking the boy’s face. Ken chuckled, scratching Koromaru under the chin was Yamagishi approached. “H-hey, Koromaru! It’s good to see you too. I’m glad you’re okay. Well… mostly, looks like you got some gunk in your eye, huh buddy?”

Koromaru whimpered, as Yamagishi landed in front of Sae and Makoto, recalling her Persona for the moment. “I was worried how I would be able to support with an evoker, but it seems easier to summon than usual here…” She said, quietly, before looking over at Makoto. “Oh- right. We’ve met. I’m Alibaba-chan’s online friend, Lucia.” 

“Oooh.” Makoto said. “Well, the Phantom Thieves appreciate your help, Lucia-chan-- or, well, it seems like you’re older than me. Lucia-san, then?”

The teal-haired woman shook her head, idly trying to wipe away the black liquid that plagued her eyes. “N-no need to be so formal… my name is Yamagishi Fuuka, but if you’re set with using my online handle, just ‘Lucia’ is fine.”

Sae frowned slightly. “Yamagishi-san. Your vision seems… impaired, but you don’t seem bothered by it. Why is that?”

Fuuka folded her arms. “Um… well, Juno is a support-type Persona… so I can… kind of see even without my eyes? It’s like… echolocation, I guess. Oh- Koro-chan! Mamudoon behind everyone, please!”

Koromaru quickly summoned his Persona, sending a dark wave of energy towards a few, sneakier demons, watching as they disintegrated into a pile of dark mist. Fuuka nodded. “I-I have a general handle on where everyone is, and where all the enemies are. Oh- but since I’m also a Navigator, maybe I could help with triangulating enemies, while Alibaba-chan handles 

Futaba’s voice quickly cut in.

_”Woah, Lucia-chan! This is the first time I’ve seen you IRL! You’ve got a real ‘cute, surprisingly young teacher’ look going on! That aside, I’m totes fine with splitting the workload! I’ve got some super hot Al Azif support drops coming in, so some extra wiggle room is appreciated!”_

Fuuka blushed. “Cute… teacher look? I-I mean, I have been doing some work at Gekkoukan but-- wait, we’re not talking about this! I’ll be on field support from now on, if that’s okay with everyone! Wait-- I should probably broadcast that to everyone else.” She summoned her Persona again, Makoto watching as Fuuka seemed to be encased within it, before sending out a telepathic signal.

_”Um, hello! I’m Yamagishi Fuuka! I’m the navigator for Kirijo-san’s team! I’ll be handling shadow locations and incoming threats, while Alibaba- or Oracle-chan handles active support! I hope we get along!”_

Fuuka dropped her Persona, before wiping her brow. “Well… I think I’ve got some pretty hefty work cut out for me. Get back to fighting, I’ll support you as best I can!”

Sae and Makoto nodded, before revving the engines on their Personas, turning towards the approaching enemies. Makoto looked back towards Ken and Koromaru. “Are you ready? Amada-san? Koromaru-chan?”

Koromaru barked. Ken gave a definitive nod. Makoto turned to face the incomining enemies, before shooting forward alongside Sae.

“Alright then! Gun it!”

* * *

These new-age Persona-users were… very confusing to Tatsuya. Not in a way where he was jealous or anything, but the fact that there were Personas dedicated purely to support? It was something he had never seen before. But, he wasn’t about to complain about getting an extra leg-up on the battlefield. He summoned a flaming blade, slicing through Shadows alongside Eikichi and Lisa. Things felt like… well, ‘old times’. With the three of them, alongside Yukino, Maya, and Jun going to fight against the Last Battalion and the Masked Circle.

Yukino-san was around, but she didn’t have any direct memories to the ‘Other Side’, and he wasn’t about to go bug her and try to ‘jog her memory’. While she wasn’t exactly a lynchpin like his alternate self and the alternate Jun, some things were best left vague.

“Orah!” Lisa yelled, Venus slamming her fist into the ground and causing pillars of debris to shoot upward, impaling demons and Shadows alike. She turned to Tatsuya, resting one hand on her hip. “Hey, so I’ve been thinking…”

“Uh-oh.” Eikichi said, using Hades’ abilities to slowly drown a pair of opposing demons. 

“No, no. It’s just, I need to figure out what to call you. Because Eikichi is my ‘Chinyan’ now, which I know you’re definitely heartbroken about.” 

“Absolutely devastated.” Tatsuya said, deadpan.

Lisa snorted. “Yeah, clearly.” She punched out another Shadow, her fist going cleanly through the monster before it lost its shape and exploded. “Okay- so Eikichi and Big Sis sometimes call you ‘Tacchan’, and Jun called you ‘Tacchi’, right? But like, I don’t want to infringe on those nicknames.”

“Just call him ‘Tatsuya’, then.” Eikichi said, idly fighting, the three of them combating demons in shadows with such ease it was almost as if their bodies were in some sort of automatic mode. 

“No, no! So, I was thinking of a compromise. How about, Tacchy~an?”

Eikichi lost his footing for a second, stumbling back as he burst out laughing. “Do you have to say it like that every time? Tacchy~an?”

Tatsuya frowned. “I refuse. No.”

“I love it.” Eikichi said. Lisa nodded, satisfied. 

“Tacchy~an it is!” 

“...Glad to see my input still means jack shit…” Tatsuya muttered, before chuckling to himself. As… annoying as it was, it brought back a weird sense of normalcy. Maybe not the best place to draw normalcy from, but it was fine nonetheless. Still, now with that… bit out of the way, he could focus on something that had been bugging him for a while now, especially once this ‘Nyx’ thing showed up. Lilith had been talking a lot of shit. Trying to make bold claims, but… she wasn’t stupid by any means. Her talks about ‘God’ or **<s>YHVH</s>**... they seemed to come from a disturbingly honest and personal place, and there had to be some credence to what she said.

_‘No. I suppose one way to put it is what the ‘God’ of your universe is. To some, He is known as **<s>YHVH</s>**. To others, Brahman. To some, Kagutsuchi. A ‘Great Will’ that governs all, fractured, and manifesting differently among universes. Although, your Great Will is split… fractured. Torn between order and chaos. Life and death. This universe is imperfect, and when the fractured pieces of the Great Will recollect and realize its imperfection, this world shall be destroyed.’_

A fractured ‘Great Will’... and Nyx was just one part of it. She had also claimed that Nyarlathotep was part of this ‘Fractured Will’, which only meant that Philemon was another part of it as well. And… if they all joined, then the destruction of the world was inevitable. His mind slowly wandered, his body fighting back against the demons like it was on autopilot. 

...He was getting the feeling that Nyx wasn’t the ‘final boss’ that everyone was making it out to be.

* * *

Naoya screamed as Amon-Ra’s staff jabbed into a Shadow. He slowly twisted it, grinding it into the pulpy flesh of the monster as it writhed in pain, before he shot a burst of flame through the base of the staff, watching as the Shadow exploded.

To put things bluntly, he was kind of pissed off, and he needed to let some steam loose somehow. Outside of the fact that this ‘Nyx’ was apparently the end of the world, and the (admittedly very strong) Night Queen that they had faced back at St. Hermelin was nothing but either an avatar, or some other incarnation was like a retrospective slap in the face. Especially considering that the Night Queen was just a very freaky lady, and this thing was the literal, actual, real moon. 

Secondly, he was extremely pissed that Old Man Igor had the gall to just… disappear. The old bastard didn’t even take the time to say goodbye to Kei, or Maki, or Yukino! But then again, it wasn’t Igor’s fault. Philemon just made the decision to up and leave, and forced Igor and the rest of the Velvet Room’s denizens to deal with it. 

“How the hell is that fair?!” Naoya yelled out loud, battering more Shadows, the viscous liquid splattering onto his face. He never really… had an opinion on Philemon. When he and the other St. Hermelin students were on their ‘Maki-slash-SEBEC Quest’, the guy would just force them to pass out and provide some weird, vague hint on where they were supposed to go next. It was annoying to some extent, but it was also useful, so Naoya never really thought much about it. As far as Naoya was concerned back then, Philemon was just some benevolent guy with a butterfly aesthetic that gave him superpowers. Sure. Big whoop. 

But now, Naoya was really hoping that Philemon would show his face around him, just so he could clock the guy in the jaw. Philemon was supposed to be some sort of god, right? Then why couldn’t he just… give up some power to keep the Velvet Room around? Give Igor enough power to fully hold the room together without his influence? For a god, he kind of sucked, hardcore. 

He felt a hand on his shoulder, tensing, before turning to see Maki. She was frowning, giving him a worried look.

“Is everything okay, Naoya?”

“Huh? Yeah. I’m cool. I’m fine.”

She raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing him. “I… understand that this isn’t exactly the best time to talk, but we can talk and fight together, right?”

Naoya nodded, hesitantly, as the two of them stood back to back, carefully aiming their attacks against the shadows, and keeping a close eye on where they stood. “...You talk first.” He said. He knew that Maki didn’t have a lot to say, but he wasn’t just going to dump all of his thoughts onto her, whether she was a psychiatrist or not.

“Alright.” Maki said, summoning Verdandi and sending forth a wave of bright energy that cleared out another wave of enemies. “Well… here’s something I thought was funny. Elly is going to be very upset when she finds out what she missed here.”

Naoya paused to think, before chuckling. “Oh, shit. Elly is going to be pissed! This is like, the supernatural event of the freaking century, and she’s dicking around in America! Sucks to be over there, I guess.”

Yukino jogged over, idly punching through a few more Shadows. “Y’know, I heard Mark’s in America too.”

Maki frowned. “I never heard that. Do you think he kept it secret?”

“Why would he make it a secret that he's going to hang out with Elly?” Yukino asked, before an awkward silence fell between the three Persona-users, the only noise being the sound of spells being cast and demons being turned to mush.

“N-no… Mark and Elly…?” Maki stammered. “Maybe we’re just… overthinking things…?”

Yukino nodded. “R-right! There’s no way they’re…”

“Let’s focus back on fighting.” Naoya said, quickly.

Kei joined over with the rest of the group, folding his arms. “Even when Masao isn’t here, he still manages to find a way to distract the group, hm? What are you even talking about?”

“Igor! Velvet Room! Philemon!” Naoya blurted out. Kei stared at him skeptically, before Naoya actually did remember something. ‘Wait- no, Philemon said something before he up and vanished- fuck him for that by the way- but he said that he’d been ‘broken apart for too long’ and that it would lead to this being the last time that we could use our ‘Personas’...”

“Philemon said that?” Kei frowned. “We’ll need some space to think about this…”

“On it!” Maki said. “Naoya, Yukino! Persona Change to the Norns!”

Yukino and Naoya shimmered with a blue light, their forms wavering for a moment as their Personas shifted. Yukino nodded. “I’ve got mine. We’re doin’ a fusion spell?”

“Right!” Maki said. “Come, Verdandi!”

“Come to me, Urd!” Naoya yelled. 

“Come on out, Skuld!” Yukino shouted.

Three, shining feminine forms came forth, slowly shining and spinning over the Mikage-cho Persona-users.

_**”Norn’s Blink!”**_ The three of them let out a burst of glowing energy, blinding everyone on the battlefield for a short moment. There was the brief sound of panic from their allies before the light cleared, and all of the Shadows seemed to be completely and entirely eliminated, for the time being at least.

“Huh. It worked.” Maki said, relieved. “Good. Now, let’s think this through. Philemon says that he’s been ‘split apart’, and needs to rejoin with something?”

Yukino looked around the empty battlefield, as their allies were giving them astonished looks.

“What the fuck?! You could do that the whole time?!” They heard Junpei yell from a distance away.

“It was like a 1 out of 4 chance, dickhead! Be grateful, and brace yourself for the next wave of Shadows!” Yukino yelled back, as the other Mikage-cho residents put their heads together.

“So… what’s going to happen when Philemon rejoins his ‘lost part’? Which- I’m going to go out on a limb and make the assumption that we’re speaking of Nyarlathotep.” Kei mumbled. 

Naoya scratched his chin. “...Maybe they’ll become some sort of… super god? Think about it like Persona fusion, except on a larger scale. But then what?”

Before they could even continue theorizing for any longer, Nyx’s massive, red eye began to pulse and shimmer, the amount of pressure exuding from the being of Death growing harsher and harsher, making it harder for the team to even stand. “What the…”

They saw Yuuki Makoto preparing himself, slowly starting to cast a fusion spell. 

“Break time is over! Everyone get to me!”

* * *

Things had been going pretty okay in Yuuki Makoto’s eyes. The fight was going well- apparently Fuuka was back, and he had the chance to fight beside his friends one last time. It was nice to be able to bark tactical commands with Mitsuru-senpai again. Just like old times- although she was a bit more assertive with calling field orders than she had been back at Gekkoukan, and she cast Marin Karin a lot less.

So that was neat.

There was also the fact that Toudou and his friends managed to clear out the entire battlefield with one fusion spell, which was also pretty impressive, and very good. The only issue was, since the Shadows were gone, Nyx was going to attack them directly. And he didn’t think any of them were ready for a direct attack from Nyx. 

They were feeling the pressure. Or… ‘pressure’. The most the others could probably sense was that Nyx was just exuding energy. Exuding an overwhelming feeling of death and despair. But it was more than that.

That pressure. That innate thumping that shook someone to their core. That sense of apprehension, fear, emptiness…

All of that was just the equivalent to Nyx breathing. He had been connected to Nyx for so long, practically felt the chained beings ‘heartbeat’ for so long that his own had become unfamiliar. He hovered in the air, staring up towards Nyx as he prepared ‘Infinity’ to guard everyone from the incoming attack as the other Persona-users huddled under him. 

“Nyx.” He said. “This isn’t personal. You want to live, and so does everyone else.” He said. After all, he wanted to make that clear. Nyx wasn’t some evil entity. Some malevolent force. Nyx just… _was_, and it just so happened that her state of being actively contrasted everyone else's’. 

There was another pulse from Nyx. Another faint glow from her eye. Makoto nodded. That meant that she understood. Good. When Nyx was eventually- hopefully- sealed again, he didn’t want to be chained up with her with bad feelings and awkward intentions. Nyx was only fighting because they were fighting. And they were fighting because they had no other option. It was a vicious cycle, but there was no reason for him to dwell on it.

Nyx suddenly fired a massive red beam from the sky, Makoto letting loose his ‘Infinity’ fusion spell as it formed a shield around all of his allies. The red beam struck the shield, causing it to start to crack and falter almost immediately. Makoto winced, trying his hardest to hold it up. 

“Nng… no. No! C’mon!”

He looked down at the others. Sanada-senpai stepped forward. “Yuuki. Is there anything we can do to help?”

He shook his head. “No… I just- I got this!” He tried to keep the Infinity shield steady, Nyx’s beam drilling against it. “I… I can do this!”

He had to do this.

He had managed to save his friends from Nyx once. He could do it again.

His arms shook as he held them outward, his body tensing and aching. Sweat poured down his face, tears began to well in his eyes. He didn’t even realize that was possible, especially considering his ‘ghost-like’ condition. But at the same time, he was using energies and going against powers that were far beyond the purely physical. 

He was pulling power from an imperfect Universe arcana, but for now that had to be enough. Yukari. Junpei. Mitsuru. Akihiko. Fuuka. Ken. Koromaru. Sure, it wasn’t everybody, but it was enough. He was determined to keep them alive, no matter what it took.

The opaque shield flashed blue as he looked down, watching as Yukari and Junpei rested their hands against it, sending their own energy flowing through it.

Yukari looked up, smiling at him. “Let’s do this together, Makoto!”

Junpei gave him a thumbs up. “C’mon, ‘Leader’! We’re better than some oversized magic-eight ball!”

The cracks in the shield seemed to fade away, as more Persona-users contributed their energy towards the shield, trying to hold out. But… it seemed like the more they resisted, the stronger Nyx’s beam became.

The shield continued to crack, as he tried to keep it steady. As everyone tried to keep it steady. Pumping as much power as they could in order to ensure their survival.

.

..

...

Before it shattered.

And everyone’s vision went dark.


	32. Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tamaki steps forward.
> 
> Ren has regrets.
> 
> Aigis grows.
> 
> Things take begin to shift into place.

It was… upsetting, in a way. She didn’t have a chance to apologize to Maya. To tell Maya everything, to rectify any sort of rifts that her actions had caused. But at the same time… the Maya that had come to help her wasn’t ‘her’ Maya. There was another world. Another Tamaki that was living a fulfilling life in a better world. 

She proceeded to release her demons, Cerberus, Pixie, and Hee-Ho-kun first. The Jack Frost grabbed her by the leg, frowning.

_”Tamak-hee-senpai. M-mayb-hee this isn’t the best choice! We can find another way to save the day, ho!”_ The demon pleaded. Tamaki shook her head. Her mind was set, and if this was the one way to make good on her promise to save the remaining humans of the ‘Other Side’, then she was going to take it. 

_”Uhm, Boss…”_ Pixie was nervously rubbing her arm. _”Like, if you’re gonna become this ‘super angel’... don’t like, forget about us, ‘kay? The angels are kinda headasses, but like, you’re not? So like, y’know, if you meet us again when you’re a demon, don’t be… like, a stranger.”_ The tiny demon bit her lip gently as Tamaki gave Pixie a soft pat on the head.

“I won’t, Pixie. I swear. I’ll try to keep as much of ‘myself’ in tact.” Tamaki said.

Cerberus was less talkative, whimpering as he ran up next to Tamaki and rubbed his mane against her waist. _”NOO…”_ It growled, as Tamaki scratched the demon under the chin, before releasing the next set of demons.

Callisto and Helios. No, Ulala and Katsuya.

“Serizawa-san. Suou-san. I’m… I’m truly sorry for what I’ve done to you.”

Ulala placed her hands on her hips. _”We… made a choice… just… wish I could have said bye to Ma-ya…”_ Her face trailed to the massive staircase, shoulders tensing. _”But… it’d be hard… and… I don’t want to see her cry…”_ Ulala’s shoulders shook for a moment, as if her own body was trying to create tears, to no avail. _”...Ma-ya… please be okay… I believe in you…”_ She whispered.

Helios- the ‘Other’ Katsuya- was quiet, his cat-like eyes trailing over to his other self. His better self. Katsuya stared at the demon that resembled him in far too many subtle ways, before the Other Katsuya approached him.

_”Tell me… are you happy?”_ Helios asked. 

Katsuya raised an eyebrow. “Wait, are you…?”

_”...Just… tell me. About your life. I know we don’t have a lot of time but…”_

Katsuya folded his arms. “...I think I get it. Well, I never became a pastry chef, but I do bake a lot for my wife. She appreciates it. She’s… tried to help me out a couple of times. To very little success.”

Helios chuckled dryly. _”Married, huh… I figured if I ever got married, it’d just be out of obligation. And… well, if I ever found someone.”_

“Maya’s a wonderful woman. The one from your time would probably love you just as much as mine loves me. And vice versa. Still… it doesn’t seem fair for me to gloat about how wonderful my life is.”

_”Our life. You’re experiencing all the things I never could. And I’m grateful for it.”_ Helios turned, staring out at the roiling destruction outside of the Temple. _”...Uchida will get you two back, so you can keep living the life I couldn’t.”_ He slowly began approaching the destruction outside, the rest of Tamaki’s demons following in tow before they reached the entrance.

Katsuya reached out a hand. “Wait- where are you going?”

_”Escaping. It’s harsh out there, but we might have a chance. Besides, the fewer people Uchida has to worry about, the better. Goodbye.”_ Helios gave a quick salute, before all of the demons hopped out of the temple, vanishing into the roiling winds and clattering debris.

Eyes were back on Tamaki and the archangels, as she held Gabriel’s lily to her chest. Belial and Lucifuge chuckled to themselves, showing no intent to stop her.

_”Whatever. You’ll all be dead anyway.”_ Belial chided.

Michael held out a hand. Tamaki took it gently- her own palm practically doll-like in comparison to the massive angel, her posture apprehensive. _”Close your eyes, child of God. You shall feel pain, but it will be over soon.”_

The other two archangels surrounded Tamaki, as Sandalphon watched from a distance, before their bodies began to fade and shift into massive orbs of holy light. The light began to circle around Tamaki, spinning faster and faster until it became a halo-esque ring surrounding the woman. The ring slowly closed in, closer and closer before pressing against Tamaki’s skin. She let out an ear-piercing shriek of pain, her teeth gnashing as spittle flew outward, and tears began to flow from her eyes. Light began to pour from the lily she held, and then began to sprout from Tamaki’s own body as she writhed within the ring of light, before eventually the ring seemed to tighten, seemingly crushing Tamaki in the process as the entire temple was covered in a blinding light. 

The light began to fade, before a silhouette began to make itself known. Massive. Imposing.

Divine.

The Merkabah was a being incredibly difficult to comprehend. The Merkabah’s skin was pale white, transitioning into a soft, creme-like color as smooth skin transitioned into robe-like appendages that seemed to be covered with chaotic, angelic feathers. The amount of wings it had seemed to shift by the second, and the appendages that could even be called ‘wings’ hardly seemed to remain that way for long. Shifting and changing into humanoid faces, into more lizard-like and animalistic faces. The main body of The Merkabah was humanoid, at the very least. Instead of falling under the graces of androgyny, it seemed to be decidedly feminine, with defined breasts, and a female face resting upon a slim, model-like neck that was surrounded by a garish, gilded collar.

The ‘main’ face hardly resembled Tamaki’s, seeming to merge the careful structure of the other archangel’s faces, the only remaining trait from the human component being how the cheeks seemed a bit rounder than the chiseled features of the Archangels, and the eyes seemed a bit wider. Two massive, wing-like protrusions seemed to sprout from both sides of it’s head, covered in a mess of dangerously sharp teeth-like forms, feathers, and metallic-seeming scales. Two pairs of arms were positioned in a sense of delicate grace, with one pair calmly clasped before it’s chest, an orb of pure, glistening golden energy between their palms. The other pair was positioned gracefully to the sides, although one hand seemed to flex and mutate into a morbid, face-like appendage. Thin, golden lips were pursed into a tense expression, as teal eyes scanned the considerably lesser beings under it with an expression of inquiry and preciseness.

_”The human named Uchida Tamaki is no more. I am purely the Lord’s Chariot, Merkabah. Her body was but a component for my completion.”_

It spoke in a dangerously robotic tone that seemed to be coated in condescension. Katsuya was able to parse out the barest hints of Tamaki’s inflection and voice in the Merkabah’s echoed tones, but outside of that… nothing. She was drowned out. It… shouldn’t have been a surprise. The archangels were immensely powerful, and Tamaki was only human.

_”My job is to escort the humans here to safety. In order to do so, I must cleanse the filth.”_

It turned to face Lucifuge and Belial, the two of them taking a step back. With one fluid wave of the hand, Merkabah let loose a powerful wave of energy that collided with the two archdemons, turning them to ash in an instant. The Merkabah’s gaze focused back on the people it was supposed to be ferrying.

_”Now, we must go.”_

“Hang on!” Katsuya yelled. “Maya and Amamiya aren’t back yet!”

The Merkabah’s gaze was cold.

_”Time is of the essence. They have one minute.”_

Ann gasped. “One minute?! That’s not nearly enough time! It has to take more than one minute to climb back down those steps!”

Haru nodded. “Ren-kun is athletic, but that’s impossible!”

_”There is one minute before the protective guard on this Temple crumbles, and you all perish instantly. Fifty-three seconds at this point..”_

Morgana nodded. “Well… when it comes to cutting things close, Joker is the best at defying expectations. Hopefully he’s in his right mind in order to pull something like that off, though…”

* * *

Ren was in his right mind.

Unfortunately, things weren’t… great. It turns out that fusing an uber-demon with the God of Chaos made a being that they were unable to even put a dent in. Even with his newly awakened Persona, his mind was still reeling from his ‘spirit journey’ from before, and he wasn’t exactly in top form.

Maya was faring slightly better, but that was because she was able to tank most of what Lucifer-Nyarlathotep was dishing out, and Artemis Prime’s arrows seemed to at least scratch the Chaos Being. 

...Or, well, even ‘scratch’ was a generous term. The damage was vaguely represented. 

“Hey, Amamiya-kun… here’s a lesson…” Maya began, panting. “You gotta learn when to fold ‘em, and learn when to hold ‘em.”

“So… run?” Ren asked.

“Run.” Maya replied. 

The two of them sprinted backwards toward the gilded staircase they had climbed up earlier, the dark shadow of Lucifer-Nyarlathotep shooting above them before sending a barrage of dark energy.

**”Come now! All that bravado, and you play the coward and contradict yourselves?! Stand and fight!”** He roared, as an explosion rocked Maya and Ren, sending them both flying down the staircase.

Now, the good news was that they were technically escaping. The bad news was that they were falling down what seemed to be an infinite staircase.

“Raoul!” Ren shouted, his Persona bursting forth- gripping Maya with one arm and gripping one of the steps with the other, slowing Maya’s descent to a more reasonable and survivable pace. Ren, on the other hand, was still about to collide with massive golden stairs at terminal velocity.

“Tetrakarn!” Maya yelled, as a shimmering shield surrounded Ren seconds before he collided with the stairs, and he bounced off harmlessly. He continued to fall, watching as the massive demon continued to chase them as Maya recovered enough to break into a sprint downward instead of blindly flailing down the massive, heavenly steps. More balls of energy were fired at them, a mixture of darkness, almighty, and cursed flames.

“We need to find a way to hold him back!” Ren yelled, summoning Raoul once more as the claws of his Persona dug into the steps, slowing his own descent. 

“I’ve got something, Amamiya-kun!” Maya yelled, before summoning her Persona. Artemis Prime shot forward, before pulling out a glistening, massive bow. It drew back the string, as energy gathered with the calming brightness of the full moon. It continued to pull back the string, before suddenly letting the projectile fly, an arrow of pure light shooting through Lucifer-Nyarlathotep in an almost effortless fashion, causing the massive demon to fly backwards. It crashed against the steps, giving the two fleeing Persona-users a brief chance to gather more distance between them and the demon, before Ren spotted the bottom of the steps.

“Yes!” He yelled, the two of them tumbling out into the main floor of the Temple, and greeted with… well, a fairly strange sight. The large, overly-complex looking angel stared at Ren and Maya.

_”Fifteen seconds to spare. It appears that this boy has been purged of the filth residing within him as well.”_

Ann, Yusuke, Morgana, and Haru all ran and gathered around Ren, wrapped him in an extremely tight group hug.

“So, you’re back to normal?” Morgana asked.

“Hooray! Ren-kun is back!” Haru cheered.

Ren sighed, a hot wave of shame crossing over him. After the things he’d done, he didn’t exactly feel deserving of such a warm reception. “...Yeah. I just wanted to say that I’m… really sorry for everything.”

Katsuya ran over to Maya, briefly explaining the situation to the two of them.

“Tammy did what?” Maya yelled. “But… is this because of what I told her? I shouldn’t have called her a coward, now she’s… she’s…!”

The Merkabah seemed to be getting annoyed, especially as the temple began to rock and sway, the defenses weakening by the second.

_”There is no time for chatter and regrets.”_

Without warning, all of the humans were encapsulated in a massive orb of light. The Merkabah’s massive wing-like appendages flapped as it began to take off, the bubble containing the humans following behind it before a massive, behemoth of a demon landed at the base of the steps.

“Damn- if I had more time to charge my attack, I could have done more damage!” Maya whispered.

_”Lucifer. Or… no… something even more filthy.”_

Nyarlathotep chuckled. **”A puppet of God. I’ll crush you with ease.”**

Merkabah didn’t give the demon a chance to gloat, all of the humans were suddenly surrounded in a faint, holy energy and lifted off the ground as the Merkabah wasted no time in escaping from the temple.

_”There is no time for idle chatter. My job is to get you back safely.”_

They escaped from the Temple, preparing themselves to be struck by harsh winds, but their flight was incredibly smooth. Ren looked around, before a sudden realization hit him. They were escaping, but Kujikawa’s body…

“I’m going back down there.” He said, suddenly. All eyes were on him.

“What? Ren, you’ll die!” Ann said. “We just got you back!”

“I did… a horrible thing to Kujikawa-san. I can’t make things right, but I can at least make sure she 

Chie grabbed his shoulder. “Amamiya-kun, I know Rise-chan, and she wouldn’t want you to do something like this!”

Kanji nodded. “If anything, she’d want her savior to be someone like Yu-senpai. Although…” He frowned, before folded his arms. “...You’re a lot like him. I’m gettin’ the feeling no matter what we say, you’re goin’.”

Ren gave a curt, tense nod. “...Yeah. I promise I’ll find a way back. Just… don’t go too fast.” He tensed his body, breaking free from the Merkabah’s protection with a burst of cursed energy. He began to plummet towards the massive Central Beacon of the Other Side, his body getting swept up by the harsh winds as he tumbled and slammed against the hard metal surface. He grimaced, slowly inching his way around before he was able to find an opening.

He crawled inside, surprised to feel that the winds weren’t harsh inside the massive structure- although it did make an incredibly persistent, hollow ringing sound. He dropped down, looking around curiously before spotting Rise’s body. 

He felt sick to his stomach.

Throwing the knife had come to him so easy. He had not even a second thought as Rise dropped to the floor then. He had been so consumed by power- so caught up in the ease in which he could act that ‘consequences’ were basically negligible. He approached her, afraid to even touch her.

She was one of Narukami-san’s friends, wasn’t she? 

Narukami-san had been so kind to him back during that mess at the Kirijo Building. Ren wasn’t even sure how he would face the other Wild Card after this. He finally built up the courage to pick her up. He closed his eyes, a deep, sinking feeling in his chest as he wondered if it would even be worth it for him to try and make it back to the others.

Did he deserve it? Maybe dying here was the best thing for everyone?

“Kujikawa-san… I…” 

**”She can’t hear you.”**

A chill ran down Ren’s spine, as a massive, shadow-like being slithered within the haunting chambers. Nyarlathotep hovered over him, faceless visage tearing into him with no sense of shame or restraint. As if the god were staring at a bug. 

**”But perhaps ending yourself here is for the best. Your friends will recall your final act as heroic, and you won’t have to face the true consequences of your actions. I see no downsides.”**

Ren grit his teeth. That was true.

**”Just stay.”** Nyarlathotep growled, as Ren felt tendrils begin to wrap around his body. 

**”Close your eyes, Joker. Blind yourself to reality like before, and you can be free of your pain…”**

* * *

Something wasn’t sitting right with Aigis. Outside of her diagnostics telling her repeatedly that she was badly damaged, there was something about what Kanji had said. About Amamiya being similar to Narukami.

At first, Aigis could glean no real similarities. Narukami had a more muscular build, his hair was a different color, and the Inaba Wild Card had more of a subdued, passive charisma that one needed to look closely to appreciate. However… 

Amamiya-kun was risking his life for a woman he most likely didn’t know that well, and in the face of certain death.

...That seemed familiar. Aigis had hated how similar Amamiya was to… the one she cared so deeply about. But at the same time, those similarities were important. Their fight had been a conflict of ideals, but Amamiya hadn’t fought her out of some selfish desire. He had fought her because he believed that the Shadows deserved to live, just as much as anything else.

She had tried to convince herself that he was a villain. His methods were unknown. Intimidating. Dangerous.

But this was the second time he had risked himself for others. No… the third. He had been at the forefront when they confronted Nyarlathotep. 

She had made so many assumptions about him, but never truly made the attempt to learn about him. 

...They were Wild Cards. They held the same power. The same responsibilities. She had forgotten that- when it truly came down to it, they were supposed to help one another. She had been nothing but a roadblock for others during this entire ordeal, but she was more than that. This feeling of frustration… this feeling of sadness, a mixture of shame and anger.

One hand idly reached out to touch her bare face- what had been left behind when Amamiya had ripped it from her. 

A face wasn’t what defined her. These feelings within her… the feelings that she had in the past, and the ones that she would have in the future. That’s what made her truly human.

“There is n-no way Amamiya-kun will be a-a-a-ble to fulfill his promi-i-ise.” She said, suddenly. 

Chie blinked. “Huh? Hey, Aigis…”

Her Persona, Palladion shimmered before her as she began to break free from the Merkabah’s protection. “...But promises are n-n-not to be broken... If it can not be fulfilled alo-o-one, then there is n-n-no shame in asking for h-h-help...” 

She began plummeting toward the ground, angling herself as she fell toward the massive Central Beacon, where Ren had been before.

She wanted to learn more about him. To build a relationship outside of blind assumptions and what she thought she knew from case files. 

Palladion flickered as it began to shift and change. 

...She wouldn’t be able to stand hand-and-hand with Yuuki Makoto again, but if she could stand by Amamiya Ren… if she could support him like Makoto had supported her… perhaps that would be enough.

* * *

**”You were the one that threw that blade. I just granted you power. It was your choice as to what you did to it. Deep down, you know you’re filled with that corruption and disgusting nature that you despise so much.”**

Ren clutched his head. He really was the scum of the earth. Did he truly just expect everyone to forgive him, right then and there? Sure, Nyarlathotep had handed him the knife, but did he really think that he didn’t have any say back then? He was making those decisions- he had to take responsibility. “I...I…”

“That’s not t-t-true, Amami-i-i-ya-san!” A voice cut through. Clear, yet had a robotic, damaged stutter to it. Ren’s eyes trailed up, locking gazes with the shining, intense eyes of Aigis. “Do not believe him! I know you are not a bad person!”

The massive Chaos Demon chuckled. **”You ‘know’? What a sudden change of heart. Before you’d happily admonish him- call him a criminal. And now you’re assured in his innocence? What contradictory rubbish.”**

Ren dropped to his knees. “...Aigis-san. I said so many horrible things to you when we fought…” He mumbled. 

“I understand! However, both of our emotions were in flu-u-u-x! Misunderstandings and reconciliation, isn’t that what ma-a-akes one human!” Aigis yelled. “I realized that you're risking your life just out of r-r-respect for Kujikawa-sa-a-an… that kind of life-threatening foolishness reminds me so much of the ones I care about! Therefo-o-ore, I have concluded that you’re a good man, Amamiya-san!” 

A… good man? Even before he did all of those terrible things, he was only good at being a thief. “...You’re wrong. I’m sure Kirijo-san had the files on me. I’m just a criminal…”

Nyarlathotep chuckled. **”Correct. Now, perhaps I may forgive you for your arrogance, and allow you to fight under my banner once more…”**

Nyarlathotep’s presence was oppressive, but… something was keeping him from going over the edge.

“I respectfully disagree! Do n-n-not let this Shadow infect your mi-i-ind once more!” Aigis called out. “I know n-n-n-othing of you, and so my accounts of your characte-r-r may be prem-m-mature, but I would deeply appreciate the chance to learn, Amamiya-san!”

She held a hand out. Time seemed to slow, the air growing still, only disturbed by the faint image of a faint, gold butterfly that seemed to dance between the two of them. His mind grew clearer. Nyarlathotep kept trying to shut him away from everyone else, but what way was that to live? Wallowing in guilt and giving up? Since when he had he done that?

“You may be lo-o-ost, and that is fine, but allow me to help guide you back! C-c-consider it recompense for my arrogance, and to spark a new beginning!” Her fingers stretched outward, as her Persona flickered before her, slowly increasing in visibility and power.

Her voice. Despite all of the mechanical whirring and the stuttering that was caused from how badly he damaged her… her voice was genuine. Human. He nodded. The very least he could do was take her hand and push forward. As recompense for his own arrogance. He picked up Rise’s body, clutching it tightly against him as he ran toward Aigis, gritting his teeth. 

**”You dare to deny me, then you shall both die here!”** The demon yelled, reeling a massive fist towards Ren. 

“Stop him, Athena!” Aigis yelled, her Persona fully taking shape. The form of a woman wearing elegant white robes, surrounded by a gilded shield that seemed to orbit around her body. A shining gold helmet befitting of a roman centurion adorned its head, with a massive red plume. The Persona was holding a spear, which was promptly stabbed into Nyarlathotep’s eye in a splattering of demonic blood and chaotic energy. Athena twisted its spear, the sound of demon flesh being pulled taut and rendered asunder echoing through the halls. 

Ren jumped toward Aigis as Nyarlathotep recoiled backward, one arm tightly gripping and holding Rise close to him, while the other grasped tightly to Aigis’. Aigis let out a scream of determination, compartments in her back unfolding to reveal several thrusters that were abruptly set aflame, sending the two of them flying into the air. 

The winds battered the two of them, Aigis’ flight patterns becoming less and less linear as they struggled in the air. Ren frowned. “Aigis-san… you shouldn’t have helped me.”

Aigis kept her gaze forward, the faint form of the Merkabah in the distance. “D-d-d-don’t be an idiot… you made a pr-r-romise that you would live. S-s-so, let us fulfill your promise!”

Right. He watched as the ground split below him, demons wildly flying in a myriad of random directions. Panic and chaos seemed to be littering the world below them as it fell apart, collapsed and crumbled as the ‘end of the world’ seemed to be inching closer and closer. A dark shadow seemed to rise up after them, the furious form of the Nyarlathotep-possessed Lucifer shooting out above them.

“Amamiya-san, can you feel it? Your friends cheering us on to live, whether they realize it or not. The bonds that connect us all are powerful- powerful enough to topple gods! Do you understand, Amamiya-san?”

He closed his eyes. He heard his heartbeat. The winds rushing around him. The sounds of splitting earth, and the cries of demons. But he wasn’t looking for what he heard. He was searching for what he felt. 

He felt Ryuji- wherever his friend was- trying his hardest to push forward no matter what. “Chi You!” He yelled, as a Persona burst forth, rocketing downward and colliding with Nyarlathotep, ripping and tearing at the massive demon's wings, before letting out a massive burst of psychic energy. Nyarlathotep roared, ripping the Persona in half furiously.

He felt Futaba putting her all into supporting the others. “Ongyo-ki!” He screamed, as a massive, black form darted forth from the Sea of Souls. It swing it’s dual blade, jabbing it into the side of Nyarlathotep’s head, blood pouring violently as the two, large demons struggled in the air.

He knew Ann wasn’t far off, fearing the worst, but keeping her heart open for the best. “Ishtar!” He commanded, as the goddess of love shimmered before him, before clapping her hands together, sending a wave of lightning raining down on Lucifer with a war-like, divine fury. 

He knew that Sojiro didn’t totally know what was going on, but that Ren needed to come back to LeBlanc alive- that he needed to return to Tokyo so they could be a family again. “Kohryu!” A massive, golden dragon flew downward, wrapping it’s massive body around the demon chasing them, causing Nyarlathotep to stall in flight, the massive demon beginning to plummet toward the ground. Nyarlathotep roared, massive wings flexing as it let loose an almighty explosion of energy, knocking away all of the Personas weighing it down.

He knew that Haru was waiting for him, worrying if he could make it back alive. “Obey me, Mother Harlot!” He shouted, as the familiar, fiendish form of the Whore of Babylon was summoned. The air around them grew frigid as Mother Harlot sent down a barrage of icicles towards their assailant, the demon quickly dodging out of the way of his assault.

He knew that Yusuke’s heart was pounding in anticipation and hope as Ren and Aigis ascended. “Odin!” The muscular form of the nordic god plummeted down toward Nyarlathotep, embedding its spear in the Chaos Gods chest before it exploded in a burst of all-powerful electricity.

He felt that he needed to be the best self that Maruki would want him to be. “Vohu Manah!” The abstract form of the Persona slithered forth, before surrounding Ren and Aigis in a wave of glowing, healing light. It’s tendrils shot toward Nyarlathotep, wrapping around the negative being before searing the chaotic god’s skin with divine, positive light.

He knew that Makoto was out there, fighting her hardest and trying to fill in his shoes as the leader, keeping up hope that he’d be back soon. “Cybele!” He summoned, as the feminine Persona flew toward Nyarlathotep. The massive, evil god went on the offensive, spewing a massive wave of dark energy towards the two escaping Wild Cards. The swords in Cybele’s hands shimmered with a bright light, as the Persona slashed through the attack, rendering it null.

He had to make it back. To prove to Sae-san that his justice wasn’t something that would falter so easily. “Come, Satan!” Nyarlathotep let out another attack, that was blocked by Satan’s massive form. The hellish demon collided with Lucifer-Nyarlathotep, the two massive emissaries of hell fighting in the air, ripping and tearing at one another.

He felt Sumire putting forth all of the effort she could in order to make her Senpais proud. “Please help me, Maria!” He said, as the shining, innocent, pure form of the Faith Persona made itself known, covering them both with a warm light. The two of them felt rejuvenated, as Aigis’ speed seemed to practically double, their goal becoming closer.

He knew that Lavenza was praying for his success, no matter where he was. “Zaou-Gongen!” He commanded, before an intimidating form ripped itself from the Sea of Souls, letting out a wave of powerful flame that seared and scorched Nyarlathotep.

He knew Morgana had faith in him- the faith that his closest companion had put in him time and time again. “Now, Futsunushi!” He yelled, as the master of blades wasted no time in slicing the beast chasing them, cleaving one of their assailants massive, demonic arms right from its body.

If he died here, then everything he had told Akechi would have been worthless. He owed it to his rival to live a prosperous life- to build a future where his sense of justice prevailed. “Assist me once more, Metatron!” A massive, angelic form made itself know. The presence was oppressive- almost as oppressive as Lucifer’s was. It shone brightly, Ren hardly able to even comprehend the power of the being he summoned as the angel raised its arms into the air, before the dark, viscous sky split open and a beam of light- a beam that seemed to come from God themself struck Nyarlathotep, causing the god to scream in pain.

This power… this was what it truly meant to be human. To appreciate the bonds that he had made, and the bonds that he would make in the future.

He refused to let them down.

“We’re almost there, Amamiya-san!” Aigis yelled. Ren looked up at the massive, flying form of the Merkabah- his friends' faces visible. They were all cheering them on with apprehensive looks and confident smiles. His fellow Thieves were waving at him, Maya and Katsuya gave the two Wild Cards a tense nod, before Ren and Aigis locked eyes.

“It is now or never.” She said.

“Right. It’s showtime!” He replied.

Aigis’ hand felt warm, before he felt a new power coursing through him. The power that was going to finish this. The power that came with the form of a new ally. A new bond. A new confidant. 

The power of the Fool Arcana of years past seemed to well up inside him, before a form flickered before him. The Master of Strings, Orpheus. No… this was different. Stronger. Orpheus’ body was a sleek, dangerous black- highlighted with reds that seemed more at home with Raoul and Arsene. Its lyre was pointed and sharp, adorning two devil-like wings. Aigis’ Orpheus was that of someone struggling to push through and accept fate, and drew power from sorrow and loss. This Orpheus… the Orpheus filled with rage at his own loss, frustration at his own lack of power, and so grew stronger to accommodate this. The Orpheus that would have sprinted back into the gates of Hades to steal away his lover from the jaws of the harsh afterlife if he could, no matter what happened.

“Let’s end this, Orpheus!” Ren yelled, as Orpheus Picaro aimed it’s lyre towards Nyarlathotep as the massive, chaotic monster recovered from Metatron’s attack. 

There was a flash beside him, as Aigis’ own version of Orpheus was summoned next to Orpheus Picaro. The two Personas grasped their lyres, Aigis’ Persona playing a low, haunting tune, while Orpheus Picaro began harmonizing with a higher, more energetic melody. Each strum of the lyres strings sparked a flame that began to circle and spin downward, wrapping around Nyarlathotep’s massive, stolen form as the demon tried to keep up. Tendrils lashed out from its body, Aigis doing everything in her power to dodge out of the way and fight against the terrifying winds of the collapsing realm. The two Orpheus’ counteracted with more bursts of flames, sending the dangerous, viscous tendrils to a sizzling fate. 

**”Do you think such paltry flames with stop me?!”** Nyarlathotep growled. **”You are merely delaying the inevitable!”**

Ren smirked. “Nah. We’re just giving our friends some time to prep.” 

Aigis shot past the massive form of the Merkabah, as Nyarlathotep’s eyes widened. He was growing closer and closer to two massive, simmering arrows. Artemis Prime and Hyperion Prime held their bowstrings taut, as more and more energy gathered within them. Maya and Katsuya stared down Nyarlathotep, their eyes filled with a sense of determination that they hadn’t truly felt in years.

“This is for my brother! Heed my call, Persona!” Katsuya yelled, flames bursting from Hyperion Prime’s bowstring.

“This is for our future! It’s whoop-ass time, Artemis!” Maya shouted, Artemis Prime’s bow glistening with frigid air. 

Ren’s eyes narrowed, a smirk growing on his face. Nyarlathotep was a faceless beast, but the shock the god was feeling was apparent. He watched as a smile grew on Maya’s face, sweat starting to trickle down her forehead from the sheer amount of power she was welling up. She didn’t waste her time with some cocky diatribe, or stressed herself to find something clever. She had one word for the Crawling Chaos, and one word only.

“Ciao.” 

The two Prime Personas let loose their arrows, the projectiles flying through the air, slowly intertwining with an energy that it would be a disservice to call ‘almighty’. The very sky seemed to brighten and shine in the presence of the arrow, as it shot cleanly through Nyarlathotep’s head, leaving a massive, shining wound in its wake. Nyarlathotep’s massive, demonic form began to shudder and shake, trembling as cracks formed in its body- light pouring from each one. The massive demon stopped it’s ascent, before slowly beginning to plummet to the ground, spasming all the while, before exploding in a massive display of hope-filled light and black, gold and blue butterflies. 

The Persona-users that had been trapped on the Other Side, alongside the few remains of Tamaki’s humans cheered, throwing their arms in the air as Ren and Aigis both fell back within the Merkabah’s orbit, floating. Ren was exhausted from summoning so many Personas at once, and he knew Aigis probably wasn’t feeling her best either. He gently let go of Rise’s body, watching with regret as it hovered in the air, lifeless. Chie and Kanji drifted toward it, the two of them quiet. Neither of them seemed upset at him, but their heavy silence spoke volumes.

He looked over at Maya, tears streaming down her face as she beamed, her arms wrapped tightly around Katsuya.

“...We did it…” She whispered, “We won…”

“As if you had any doubt, right?” Katsuya replied with a curt, satisfied nod. 

Maya looked back at Ren, giving him the widest, proudest smile she could muster. “With kids like these? Not a doubt in my mind. You really are something else, Amamiya-kun. And you too, Aigis-chan.”

Ren closed his eyes, exhaling. “Ah… it’s the least I could do…”

Aigis nodded. “I am glad I was of… assistance…”

The Merkabah continued to usher them away, the fleeing humans watching as the ‘Other Side’ became more and more of a wasteland that it had been before, the very planet crumbling and destroying itself. They grew closer and closer to the ‘conception point’. The chasm in the air that connected to the massive chasm where the Kirijo Building had been. The Merkabah’s echoing, calm voice pierced their minds before they became too relaxed.

_”There is no time to celebrate yet.”_

It flew through the rip in the sky, shooting out above what… used to be Tokyo. The city was destroyed, demons and Shadows flying and scurrying about. Buildings were aflame, and the sky was a deep, ominous green. Eyes were drawn to several coffins that littered the ground. Ren looked closer, as some of the coffins had familiar masks resting on top of them.

“No… guys…”

There were only four bodies out of the mess of coffins. One boy with blue hair. One man with silver hair. Another man with a red outfit and brown hair. And one final man with dark, slightly purple-tinted hair. Their bodies had blue butterflies hovering over them.

“The Dark Hour…?” Aigis mumbled, before her gaze trailed upward. “No…! Nyx!” 

The others looked up, staring face to face with what used to be the moon, although now it seemed to be some massive, eye-shaped beast that was glaring straight at them. All hope had seemed to vanish from their bodies, as Nyx’s massive eye began to charge up energy.

“I-It’s fine, right?” Chie asked. “This Merkabah thing can protect us!”

_”My power is nothing compared to Nyx.”_

“Shit.”

Nyx fired the beam again, all of them bracing themselves before time seemed to slow again. Maya, Aigis, and Ren looked between each other, as that same golden butterfly from earlier flew between them. The bearm struck the Merkabah and it’s passengers, Ren watching in horror as his friends' eyes slowly went dead, and their bodies limp before being surrounded by black, coffin-like objects. The same coffins he had seen on the ground earlier. His own vision began to go blurry, before he was swallowed up by darkness.

* * *

.

..

…

Ren’s eyes slowly fluttered open. He almost felt as if he were in Heaven again, his fingers gripping against foliage. It felt like his hands were rustling through leaves, before things slowly found themselves within focus. He found himself under what seemed to be a massive tree, with gentle, purple leaves and a sweeping canopy that one could rest under for ages. He looked to the side to see a man with dark hair and an earring, who was gently resting his hand on the trunk of the massive, calming tree with closed eyes.

“...Agastya… it’s been too long.” The man mumbled to himself, before slowly opening his eyes. A warm gaze shifted over to him, as the man slid his hands in his pockets. “...You’re awake.”

Ren nodded slowly, sitting up and looking around. Outside of the earring-wearing man, there were others. He saw Maya sitting down by the trunk of the tree, making quiet conversation with a man with messy brown hair and a red Featherman outfit. He made note of Narukami and Aigis, who seemed to have been inexplicably healed of all her damages, face and all. They were talking to a boy that looked about Ren’s age, with messy blue hair that covered one eye. 

The blue haired boy glanced over at Ren, giving the slightest hint of a dry smile. “About time, Sleeping Beauty.”

Ren slowly stood up, his feet rusting the violet leaves underneath his feet. He gently brushed them off his clothes, somewhat surprised to see that he was back in his civilian attire. Maya smiled, as she stood up alongside the brown-haired man. “I’m glad you’re okay, Amamiya-kun. I don’t really know what happened… ‘Nyx’ tried to blast us, it went dark, and now we’re here.” She gestured to the man she was with. She seemed to stick close to him, almost in a protective manner, despite the man next to her being taller and considerably more dangerous-looking. “Yuuki-kun already acquainted me and Aigis-chan with everyone else, but the person next to me is Tacchan-- uh, Tatsuya-san. And he’s… Toudou-san, correct?” She said, pointing at the dark-haired man.

Toudou nodded. “I’m Toudou Naoya. Nice to meet you. The edgy-looking kid is Yuuki Makoto. He’s a ghost, or something. And the silver fox next to him is…”

“We’ve already met. I’m glad you’re safe, Amamiya-kun.” Yu said, with a slight smile. Ren couldn’t meet Narukami’s kind gaze, his own eyes slowly trailing onto the ground and toward the leaves. 

Tatsuya folded his arms. “...I’m guessing that’s everyone. Or, well, everyone here at least.”

“Right. Nice of them to bring us to the old Agastya Tree, though.” Naoya said as he plucked a leaf from it, smiling. “Back when I was in high school, and dealing with demon shit, this tree was our one spot to really rest and reflect. If you just take a second to remember what you’re fighting for, it makes actually doing it all the easier.”

Ren looked around. Outside of the tree, it seemed as if they were in some dark void. There was one exit, a doorway of light. 

“We’re theorizing that we were summoned here by that butterfly.” Aigis said. “But… why us, specifically?”

Makoto shrugged. “We’ll need to investigate. But… I’m getting the feeling we’re getting close to ending all of this. One way or another.”

“If this was Philemon, it’s either something good, or he needs us to clean up some new mess.” Tatsuya said, somewhat bitterly. Maya giggled, locking arms with him.

“Don’t be such a sourpuss, Tacchan! I’m sure if this is Phil’s doing, he has a good reason!”

Ren looked between the others, before activating his Third Eye, staring at the cards floating above their heads.

In one way or another, they all seemed to be in possession of The World arcana. There were a few exceptions. Maya, who seemed to have an incredibly bright Moon arcana that managed to rival the others in power. Aigis, who carried an incredibly potent variation of The Fool, that seemed to interchange between that and an arcana he had never seen before. Finally, there was Yuuki, who’s own arcana seemed to dwarf the others in brightness and in power. 

“The… Universe?” He questioned out loud.

Yuuki raised an eyebrow. “Huh? Oh, so you can see it, huh. Interesting.”

“Amamiya-kun is full of tricks, really.” Maya said, “But let’s not waste time dilly-dallying. I don’t know if time is the same wherever we are, but if we were summoned here, it’d be rude to leave them waiting.”

The others nodded, before the six individuals began walking toward the door of light, filled with anticipation and apprehension.

A voice echoed behind them. Gentle, yet ominous.

_Take care on your journey, young ones..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, it's me, your friendly neighborhood fic author, here to ramble on in the chapter notes. I'm sure none of you were looking forward to this, but we've kind of dumped any pretense of 'professionalism' with this fic, so having a chance to voice my thoughts in the notes is a nice change of pace. Especially since I don't really plan on doing this in any of my other fics.
> 
> First thing, when I first encountered the Agastya Tree in Persona 1 PSP, and had a chance to sit back and listen to it's theme, I feel in love immediately. It was such a wildly different feeling than any other save points in the Persona series. The way it welcomed you, and encouraged you when you had to leave- it was almost heartwarming. Kind of a similar warmness I got from walking back into LeBlanc on a rainy day, but at the same time that sense of solemness that I got when I came back to an empty home in the latter half of P4. It actually got to the point where I looked forward to seeing the purple icon show up on my minimap, just so I could remind myself to take a breather as I got my ass kicked by ghost toilets. So I think it earned a cameo in this story.
> 
> Anyways, that's not the important thing.
> 
> People who have been reading this for a while may notice that there's finally a set number of chapters (for new people, it was sitting at a big at ? up until now)- that's because I've finally got enough grip on the plot to know how this is going to end. 32 chapters is... kind of late, but I usually had so much fun writing chapters that my plans would go a bit off the rails.
> 
> Anyways, as far as this fic goes, I've set up a very candid rapport with the readers. So I at least owe it to you guys to tell you my plan.
> 
> This is a Persona fic, yes, but I've also taken so much from it's MegaTen roots that I basically had the idea of having multiple endings. Not as polarizing as the traditional 'Law', 'Chaos', and 'Neutral' paths- they're a bit more subdued like the 'other endings' in Persona games. I had been considering this idea for a while, bouncing back and forth, and while there's going to be a 'definitive' one- I also think it'll be neat to give two other possibilities.
> 
> 2 more plot chapters + 3 different ending chapters (Let's call them A, B, and C) + an epilogue that'll follow ending 'C'.
> 
> I've probably said 'we're in the final stretch' about a billion times now, but I honestly mean it at this point. 
> 
> Thank you so much for continuing to read, and I'll see you when it's over.
> 
> \- WiggityFresh


	33. The Voice Someone Calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The seven chosen Persona-users investigate the world they've been thrust into.

Tatsuya and the others found themselves on a circular platform, the floor made up of checkered tiles, and the platform surrounded by massive pillars that seemed to head endlessly upward. The space they were in was vast and filled with a dull green coloration that resembled that of the Dark Hour’s sky. Tatsuya sighed, hands reaching for the lighter in his pocket before he felt a gentle hand resting on his shoulder.

He turned to look at the concerned face of Maya, as the other Persona-users found themselves piling on. All of the others, with the exception of Naoya, seemed to be looking around in shock and awe at this place they hadn’t seen before. Tatsuya recognized it all too well. This was Philemon’s realm… which answered the question of who called them here. Still, usually, the butterfly god would have made himself known by now. His eyes narrowed, assessing his surroundings for another moment before focusing back on Maya.

“I’m fine, Big Sis.” He said, instinctively. He paused, before blushing slightly. A rare occurrence for him, but they were both adults at this point. Calling her ‘big sis’ at this age was probably awkward for her. “Or… maybe I should start calling you ‘Maya-san’. I’m not a kid, anymore…”

She smiled at him. It had been years since he saw her smile… he wasn’t sure how to feel. It was as if she was filling in some missing piece to his life, but at the same time, he knew it wouldn’t last. Or, at least that’s what he kept telling himself. He knew his moments with Maya were fleeting, but at the same time, he wanted them to last forever. 

“I don’t mind you calling me ‘Big Sis’, Tacchan.” She chuckled, adjusting her jacket. “In… all honesty, it makes me feel younger. Still, I have to admit that it’s strange seeing you so grown up. I mean- last time I saw you, you were struggling to grow peach fuzz, and now you look like you’re desperately in need of a shave.” She pinched his cheeks, “And a haircut, maybe. But I guess there weren’t many barbers on the Other Side.”

“Hey--! Quit it!” He protested, brushing her hand away. 

“Sorry, sorry!” She grinned, and he felt his heart skip a beat. “But when this is all well and done, you’re gonna let your Big Sis give you a makeover, right?”

Tatsuya shook his head. “I’ll most likely have to return to the Other Side after this. It’s too risky for me to be on your Side, you know that.” He slid his hands in his pockets, eyes downcast. 

Maya frowned, before taking a deep breath. “I… don’t think that’s going to be an option, Tatsuya. The Other Side is gone. Lucifer destroyed it, and Tammy-- Tamaki- risked her life to save us.” She watched him for a moment, trying to gauge his expression. Tatsuya folded his arms, closing his eyes. His relationship with the Tamaki of the Other Side had been… complicated, but being one of the last remaining humans that could actually fight back had brought them closer together. But… if what Maya said was true- and she didn’t have a reason to lie, then he didn’t have anywhere to go.

“Of course you have somewhere to go!” Maya said, indignantly. “That’s what you were thinking, right? That you’ll be forced to wander alone or be thrown into some purgatory?” She placed her hands on her hips. “I promised the people on the Other Side that I’d give them a new shot at life, and that includes you too. If you want, you can even stay with Katsuya and I until you get back on your feet. But you’re not alone, Tatsuya. Not anymore. You have people that love you here. People that care.” She gently took his hands, her eyes staring into his with a genuine earnestness that he hadn’t seen in what felt like ages. 

His heart began to pound, the corners of his eyes stinging as they held back tears.

“Big Sis, I…” He closed his eyes, smiling. “...I really don’t deserve you.”

Maya giggled. “Nonsense! Besides, we’re all here together. It’s more than just you and me, Tatsuya. We’ve got a whole gaggle of new friends right here!” She gestured to the other Persona-users, who were still observing the platform.

Yu smiled. “Suou-san, I’d consider this the beginning of a new friendship. We’re all chosen- I don’t want to call ourselves ‘special’ but… clearly there’s a reason that we were chosen specifically.”

Ren nodded in quiet agreement, taking a seat by one of the pillars and looking around. 

Tatsuya scowled. “I think I know why. In some way or another, we’re all Philemon’s puppets.”

“Philemon…” Yu mumbled. “Who is that…? I… vaguely recall someone by that name from my time as ‘Izanagi’, but the details are fuzzy, and any sort of recognizable features are fuzzier.”

Maya spoke up. “Philemon is the representation of the good of humanity. He’s the one that gives us our Personas- directly or indirectly.”

“Philemon isn’t the representation of our good,” Tatsuya interrupted, rather bitterly. “Philemon has done good, but his stance is neutral at best. He wants to see humanity thrive because it proves him right and if we fail… then it’s no big loss to him.” 

Makoto yawned. “Either way, he’s powerful.”

“Naturally so,” Tatsuya continued. “This is his realm. Set in the Collective Unconsciousness. We’ve been bantering for quite a while- usually, he comes here as a butterfly and gives us some cryptic warning.”

Not shortly after he said that, the platform hitched forward and began to drift, like a raft set upon the sea. It bobbed slightly as it moved, the collective unconsciousness drifting past them- a sea of endless stars and countless possibilities.

Naoya folded his arms. “Looks like we’re moving. But… to choose to bring us to the Collective Unconsciousness… nothing meaningless happens here. So this has to be it.”

Ren blinked. “What do you mean by ‘it’, Toudou-san?”

Naoya sighed. “Philemon told me before he put the kibosh on the Velvet Room… he said that this may be the last time we ever wield the power of ‘Persona’ again. Whatever happens when this platform stops… that’ll be it. It’ll change our futures once and for all.” Naoya looked at Ren for a moment, squinting. “...Hey, kid. In the Velvet Room, did you know a little girl with long white hair?”

“Huh? Do you mean Lavenza?” Ren asked, cautiously. Naoya nodded.

“...The Velvet Room is gone, but before it the little girl wanted me to relay a message. She says that you were a remarkable guest, and that she’ll miss you. I also think she wanted to say ‘I love you’, but got embarrassed.”

Ren chuckled, but it was more than a little forced. “...That’s definitely Lavenza. Thank you, Toudou-san. I… well, it’s hard to believe the Velvet Room is gone for good.”

“Igor… Margaret… they’re really gone, huh?” Yu mumbled, eyes downcast. “I never had a chance to tell them ‘thank you’, but… they probably wouldn’t have accepted it, huh? They’d just say that they were doing their jobs.”

Tatsuya glanced over at Maya, who seemed well aware of the plummeting morale, and watched her put on her best ‘Maya’ smile. The one she had used a billion times in Sumaru when things felt hopeless. The one that gave Tatsuya the strength to keep pushing forward, no matter how battered and exhausted he was. “Come on, everyone! Igor wouldn’t want us moping around like this, right? This rinky-dink platform is going pretty slow, so we should take the time to get to know each other, and maybe formulate a plan. How about that?”

“I agree,” Tatsuya said. “Outside of just generally breaking the ice, finding a common denominator between all of us may help with uncovering Philemon’s logic in summoning us. Although, you know my theory.” 

Naoya raised an eyebrow, before shrugging. “Fine. Let’s start with you then, Suou. Amano seems like a pretty open book, but you’ve got that mysterious stranger vibe going on.”

Tatsuya rolled his eyes, sliding his hands in his pockets. “...Fine. I’m not from this timeline.”

“Eh?”

“In my timeline, the world was turned into a demonic wasteland by Nyarlathotep. Rumors had taken over the city and kept on escalating- growing more and more ridiculous through Nyarlathotep’s machinations. Things like aliens, reviving Hitler, causing the world to end…”

“Hitler?” Ren asked. “As in, the leader of the Nazis?”

“That’s the one. It was all part of a bet between Philemon and Nyarlathotep. To see how strong our hearts were. And… we failed. Maya was killed, and the planet was destroyed.” He clenched his fists, his jaw tensing. “...Philemon gave me, Maya, and my friends a second chance- at the cost of our memories and experiences with one another, and then he split the timeline. One timeline where the Earth remained ruined, and yours... “

Yu frowned. “So you were forced to live on a ruined Earth for years? That’s… awful, Suou-san.”

Ren smiled, somewhat sadly. “It’s destroyed now. So I guess he has no chance but to live on a slightly less screwed up version of Earth…”

“Anyways, that’s my story,” Tatsuya said, abruptly. “Who’s next?”

Makoto raised his hand. “I’ll bite. Uh, I’m dead. I did some stuff in Tatsumi Port Island, fought shadows, and then gave up my eternal soul to be a seal for Nyx. But now the seal is broken, so I’m back for just a little bit, kinda.”

There was a long moment of silence before Makoto groaned. “Next person, jeez. You’re all being so weird about this…”

“You just said you were dead!” Ren yelled.

“Yeah? And? It happens to people.”

“But they don’t… come back, Yuuki-kun…” Yu muttered.

“I’m technically older than you. Aigis can vouch for me.” He pointed toward the blonde girl at his side, who gave an extremely noncommittal shrug.

“He is correct. He did some things in Tatsumi Port Island, fought some Shadows, and then gave up his eternal soul. I was there when we buried him. Kirijo-san set up a very nice funeral for you, Makoto.”

“Really? I should thank her.”

Maya rubbed her temples. “You’re both being… really casual about this, but I’m also getting the feeling that neither of you feel like elaborating soo… maybe it’s Aigis-chan’s turn! I wanna hear the story of the super cute robot!”

“Quick question before that though-” Ren asked. “I did a number on Aigis when we fought, but she looked perfectly fine now. I guess I’m asking ‘why’?”

Makoto shrugged. “We’re in a realm made out of the cognition of others. This is the ‘Aigis’ that people recognize- whole and complete. If more of us had seen her beaten up and damaged, she probably would have remained that way. At least, that’s my theory…”

Ren rubbed his chin. “Huh. Well, onto Aigis’ story then.”

Aigis blinked, before shaking her head. “My ‘story’ is not that intriguing. I was built by the Kirijo Group as a weapon to combat Shadows. In the year 1999, I combatted an incredibly dangerous Shadow that represented the Death arcana, and sealed it within Makoto--”

Maya glanced at Tatsuya. “1999? But that’s also when Nyarlathotep…” 

“It was the year before Y2K, things were bound to get weird.” He replied. 

“Ten years after that, I joined a group of teenager Persona-users called S.E.E.S, and now I am currently a member of the Shadow Operatives, lead by Kirijo Mitsuru.” She explained. 

Naoya raised an eyebrow. “The Shadow Operatives… huh. I think Nanjo asked me about joining that group at some point. I turned him down though.”

Aigis seemed confused. “Why, if I may ask?”

Naoya shrugged. “...Too much of a hassle. After St. Heremlin, I figured my days with ‘Persona’ were over. I wanted them to be over. Sure, I made friends at the end of the day, but that didn’t mean the events leading up to them were any less terrifying.” He stared down at his hands, flexing his fingers. “I wanted to live a normal life. But I’ve always felt… restless since then. So I kept moving from place to place. Wandering around, hoping that I could forget about this power I had, or that the things that gave me this power would forget about me. Joining the Shadow Operatives would mean that I would be dedicating my life to cleaning up the messes of whatever deities are out there. Any pretense of normal would be useless.” He closed his eyes, shaking his head. “At some point, I want to settle down with Maki- I don’t want to have to worry about demons ruining my life. So… if this is really ‘it’, then I’ll accept it wholeheartedly.”

Ren nodded. “...I think I agree. We’ve had to deal with being yanked around by gods, so I understand being frustrated. Still… we need to stay on our toes. I haven’t met ‘Philemon’ yet, but… I’ve had to deal with Nyarlathotep… and…” He trailed off, his eyes finding their way to the checkered platform that continued to drift forward. Maya walked next to him, carefully resting a hand on his back. Tatsuya recognized the look of guilt in Ren’s eyes. Guilt for a crime that he didn’t even truly commit. 

“Whatever Nyarlathotep made you do, it’s not your fault,” Tatsuya said, rather abruptly. Ren and Maya quickly looked over at him, as Tatsuya pulled his lighter from his pocket, flicking it open and shut. 

“He twists your desires. Bends your reasoning. You feel like you’re in control- that you’re powerful, but at the same time you just don’t realize how powerless you really are.” He stared out into the Sea of Souls. The platform fell silent for a moment, before Maya finally spoke up.

“...Right. Tatsuya’s right, Amamiya-kun.” She said. Ren didn’t respond, so she sighed, clapping her hands together. “Let’s rest up. Hopefully, we don’t have to fight, but I think making sure we’re ready- and making sure we’re in a good headspace is important.” She leaned back against one of the pillars, yawning. “Besides… this has been a long day. I’m beat.”

Maya didn’t have to tell the others twice, as calm, contemplative silence fell over the seven.

* * *

Yu kept glancing over at Ren. 

There was a lot on his mind. They had been going through… a lot, to put it simply, but what Tatsuya had just said kept harping at his mind. That, and he kept thinking back to the fight at the top of the Kirijo Building. The ‘beginning of the end’, if he wanted to think pessimistically about it. 

He and his friends had been manipulated. It probably would have been worse if Naoto and Kanji hadn’t uncovered the truth, but that still didn’t completely ease Yu’s mind. He kept thinking about the ‘what if’s’. What if they had never figured out the false Kirijo was a fake, and they had ended up fighting and killing the ‘Phantom Thieves’? What if Naoto had been incapacitated and they never found out, leaving all of her efforts in vain? What if he had been wrong about the Phantom Thieves, and they really were the threats that the false Kirijo had hyped them up to be? 

Of course, there was the biggest question of all. What if he had lost himself to Izanagi entirely, and truly lost control of his ‘self’? 

Izanagi was a part of Yu’s soul. That much was apparent. It was blatant back when he had first summoned him in the fog-covered shopping district in the T.V World’s twisted version of Inaba. It became even more so when he found himself saving Marie, and then combatting Izanami and her fog. But… at the same time, the Izanagi that had been pushed forth by Nyarlathotep’s headphones… that wasn’t the Izanagi he had known. The being that so proudly proclaimed ‘I am thou, and thou art I’. It was twisted- filled with a hatred and anger that he had never felt before.

...Or maybe a sense of hatred and anger that he had refused to feel before. Izanagi was his ‘other self’, and there was a chance that the violent, divine wrath he had been pressuring his friends with… that anger, frustration, and rage… those were all feelings that he had kept suppressed. Suppressed because he felt like he needed to set an example. A good leader couldn’t be angry- couldn’t let themselves fall victim to their emotions, and yet he still had to remember that he was only human, and that it was okay for him to feel things.

That’s probably why he kept looking over at Ren. Gauging the conflict on his face. The look of someone who was trying so hard to keep it together- but was struggling. The face of someone who had supported so many others that he forgot to take care of himself. Someone who went broke buying supplies so that his team didn’t die on their next ‘quest’, someone who gave up meals in order to find time to study- or abandoned homework assignments just to find the time to eat- the look of someone who spent time painstakingly adjusting and preparing their schedule to make the most of the bonds that were being fostered over time. 

Yu got up, walking over and sitting next to Ren. “You’ve been awfully quiet, Amamiya-kun.” He said, gently. Ren’s eyes flickered over to Yu for a moment, before looking away. 

“Is there something you want to tell me?” Yu asked. Ren’s body seemed to tense, before he took a deep breath.

“...You knew Kujikawa-san, right?” He asked.

“We were dating.” Yu replied. 

Ren was quiet for a moment, before uttering a small ‘oh’. 

Yu decided to bite the bullet. “I know what happened to Rise. Or, at least the gist of it. You were the last to wake up, and Amano-san brought it up while we were talking.” It wasn’t exactly a casual conversation. Maya, realizing that Ren hadn’t woken up yet at the Agastya Tree, had told Yu beforehand just so that the air would clear out a bit. Most of the basic details- the most important being that Ren was being controlled by ‘Nyarlathotep’, and that he wasn’t exactly in the best state of mind.

’Please, Narukami-san! Please don’t be upset at him! This has happened before- Nyarly loves to force people into awful situations and then force them to bear the guilt of it!’ Maya had pleaded- not like it was… necessary. He had just gone through a similar situation with Izanagi- the best thing he could do was direct his anger towards the true source, and turn it into something practical.

“Right.” Ren muttered. “So, I guess you hate me then, right?”

Yu raised an eyebrow. “That’s pretty presumptuous, Amamiya-kun. You weren’t yourself. You heard what Suou-san said- as much as you felt like you were in control, you were just being yanked along. Taking responsibility for something that isn’t your fault can be noble, but if you do it too often, you’ll just end up hurting yourself and not benefitting anyone. Besides, this isn’t like you.”

Ren glanced at him, eyes shaded by dark, coarse hair. He looked worse for wear- but to be fair they all did. “...You don’t know me, Narukami-san.” He replied, his voice quiet yet tense.

Yu rolled his eyes. Teenagers.

“You’re right, Amamiya-kun. I don’t. But you’re a Wild Card like me, right? People like us don’t wake up to that power for no reason. I can tell you’re the type of person who would go a long way for someone else, no matter how well you knew them. I can’t imagine you killing Rise on your own volition- just like I can’t imagine that the kid sitting next to me and moping is the real Amamiya Ren.”

Ren sighed, rubbing his arm. “So… you’re not mad?”

Yu shook his head. “No, I’m furious." The thought of Rise dead... it was enough to throw him into a rage. He had tried his best to keep it contained... and was still trying. But he wasn't going to blow up at the people he was supposed to be helping. That would just make things harder for everyone, and lessen his chances at doing Rise any sort of justice. "...But not at you. If Nyarlathotep was the one who pushed you to do something so horrible to someone I cared so much about, then he’s the one at fault, and I’ll make sure that he pays.” He nodded to himself, as Makoto and Aigis wandered over to the two of them, taking a seat. 

“We saw the two ‘Wild Cards’ sitting and chatting, and Aigis started to feel left out.” Makoto said, dryly. Aigis frowned.

“But you were the one who wanted to engage them? Do not use me as an excuse for your lack of social grace, Makoto.” She retorted, with an equal amount of dryness. 

Yu and Ren exchanged a look, before Yu focused on Makoto. “You know, your existence has been implied a ton in the few times I’ve worked with the Shadow Operatives, but I never thought I’d meet you in person. To meet my ‘predecessor’ is a bit of an honor, really.”

Makoto scoffed. “Don’t get so formal. I’m just a guy with the same power as you. That’s about the heads and tails of it.”

Ren was quiet for a moment, before suddenly speaking. “Nice to me-heet you, ho.”

“ME EAT YOU WHOLE?” Yu added.

“I am in your care.” Aigis replied, while Minato shook his head.

“We get it, we’ve all been to the Velvet Room. You don’t need to make an entire bit out of it.” Naoya called out. 

“I thought it was funny.” Yu consoled Ren. “But… well, we’re all Wild Cards, but what about the others? I was going to assume we were all Wild Cards, but... “

“They’re a bit different than us.” Ren mumbled. “Amano-sensei has the ability to change Personas, and I’m guessing so do Suou-san and Toudou-san, but none of them are in possession of any form of the Fool Arcana. They have specific affinities with the Moon, the Sun, and the Emperor, respectively- alongside the World.”

Aigis narrowed her eyes. “I was thinking back to the battle at the Kirijo Building. Nyarlathotep called me ‘Philemon’s little thought project’. I assumed he was referring to me being an impromptu ‘Wild Card’ after Makoto’s passing, but… perhaps there’s more to it.”

Yu nodded. “If… what Suou-san said about him failing and that everything was a bit between Philemon and Nyarlathotep is true, maybe the power of the ‘Wild Card’ was developed by Philemon to increase humanity's odds at winning. Being able to change Personas within a certain subset of affinities is one thing- and I’m assuming pretty powerful- but having no limitations at all is even more so…”

“So… they’re like, prototypes? They were given the power to change Personas, but only certain types. They basically served as the ‘test rounds’ for Philemon to see what did and didn’t work in a Persona-user, and after a close shave with Amano-san and Suou-san, he decided to amp up the odds with our power...”

“Prototype is kind of rude, isn’t it?” Maya called out, the four Wild Cards turning to face her, Tatsuya, and Naoya- who had been quietly eavesdropping on their conversation. “But… I guess if you all really have the ability to switch to any Persona, no matter the affinity, that’s pretty impressive. I mean- I saw Amamiya-kun and Aigis-chan fighting Nyarlathotep, and Amamiya-kun was summoning Personas like a madman!”

Ren chuckled. “It wasn’t… that impressive, really.”

Maya put her hands on her hips. “Jeez, kids today are so modest. Brag about yourself a little bit, huh? You summoned about thirteen different Personas in a row without taking a break! That’s some hardcore power!”

Yu nodded. “Yuuki-kun could do fusion spells on his own. It seems like we’ve got two powerhouses here.”

“Aigis is a literal walking tank. So, I’d call three powerhouses.” Makoto added.

Naoya clapped Yu on the shoulder. “You’re no slouch either, Narukami. Even after you got back to your senses, your ‘Izanagi-no-Okami’ is still pretty damn powerful.”

“My memories as Izanagi are hazy, but I’m pretty sure your Persona did a number on me too, Toudou-san.”

Tatsuya scratched his head. “Big Sis- ah, Maya is probably one of the most versatile Persona-users I know. Reliable and powerful.” 

“C’mon, Tacchan! Your Persona can do a cool, like- time thing! You’re an absolute beast on the battlefield!” Maya replied. “But… I think the conclusion we’re starting to reach is that we’re all pretty cool, huh? So we should be able to rely on each other! If we’re strong individually, then we’ll be even stronger as a team! Nobody can stop us!” She held her hand up. “We’re going to be a team! Maybe that’s why Philemon chose all of us, right? We’re strong individually, and we’re used to holding up other people, but maybe now we have to see how well we hold up each other. And… after this, let’s get together for real! Without Personas, without worrying about Demons or Shadows… after this, we’ll find some time to really get to know and appreciate each other. How about that, huh?”

Yu smiled, standing up. “I couldn’t agree more, Amano-san. We’re all linked, in one way or another. We shouldn’t let this chance meeting be the end of it.”

Naoya smirked. “You should be an inspirational speaker, Amano. But… I agree too. You all seem like some pretty wild characters. Getting to hear your stories in detail would be a helluva experience.”

Ren nodded, hopping up to his feet. “...I guess it would be fun to brag about my time as a Phantom Thief. And, well- meeting a group of adult Persona-users is something I never thought I’d experience. I’ve gotten so used to seeing the shadows and ugly sides of older people, it was easy for me to forget that adults still have things they need to overcome, and challenges they need to face.”

Tatsuya folded his arms, a ghost of a smile on his face. “You’re pretty mature, Amamiya. That’s good. Keep a good head on your shoulders, and you’ll be able to keep surpassing everyone’s expectations.” He glanced away. “Relying on a team… it’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to do that. Since I’ve given myself the chance to do that. I’m looking forward to our partnership.”

“So formal, Suou-san…” Aigis mumbled. “But I look forward to getting to know you all better as well. Perhaps I could even convince Toudou-san to join the Shadow Operatives.” Aigis said, glancing over at the dark-haired man.

“Fat chance, kid. Once this is over, I’m going on a vacation.”

Maya clapped her hands together. “It’s agreed on, then! Once we’re done with this, win, and take some time to get our lives back in order- we’ll meet up again! We’ll find somewhere quiet- let’s see…”

“LeBlanc.” Ren said, “It’s a cafe in Yongen-Jaya where I work. Once things are said and done, we can meet there.”

Naoya chuckled. “Tryin’ to get some more customers, huh? I’m sure your boss will be happy about that. But… since I don’t really know many spots in Tokyo, I guess that’s worth a shot. Visiting the big city during a time of peace would be pretty nice.”

“Oh, I love LeBlanc! It has such a nice atmosphere!” Maya beamed, clapping her hands together. 

The group realized that Makoto was quiet, standing away from the group with a small, passive smile on his face. His expression was difficult to place, as he slid one hand in his pocket, awkwardly fiddling with his bangs. 

“...Jeez, what’re you all staring for…? I’m not gonna stop you from making your plans.”

Aigis frowned. “Makoto, I’m sorry… I didn’t--”

“Chill, Aigis. I’m not upset. I accepted that I wouldn’t be coming back at all, and here I am anyway. Besides, I’m not gone yet. So let’s just keep our heads up, right?”

Maya nodded slowly. “...Right, Yuuki-kun.”

Yu looked over at Makoto, feeling conflicted. As much as he knew the other Wild Card had to go, it was somewhat bittersweet. He wished that he would have been able to fight alongside Yuuki at some point. Shoulder the burden of being ‘leaders’ together, while traversing and overcoming traps and challenges- being able to make the most of their power together. He looked around at the circle of Persona-users, before putting his hand in the middle. “Alright, everyone. On three!”

“Wait, what are we doing?” Ren asked, staring at Yu’s hand.

“I… think Narukami-san wants us to do a hype chant. Like ‘one, two, three- yippie’, or something like that…?” Tatsuya replied.

Naoya squinted at Yu. “What are we, a bunch of teenage girls?”

Maya, Aigis, and a reluctant Makoto put their hands in the middle along with Yu’s. “C’mon, everyone! If we hold our hands out for too long, they’ll start to get sweaty- and then it’ll be even more awkward!”

“...So you admit it’s already awkward, Big Sis…” Tatsuya groaned, before slowly putting his hand in the center of the circle as well. Naoya and Ren did the same, before Yu counted it off.

“Alright, one! Two! Three! Let’s do our best” He yelled, throwing his hand in the air. Maya caught on fast enough to do the same. She was the only one.

“Wait… were we supposed to do that too?” Makoto asked. “You never said what to do on ‘three’.”

“I would offer to try it again, but I don’t want to.” Aigis commented. “So let us just leave it at that, and have the collective agreement that we’re going to try our hardest and rely on one another.”

“Cheers to that.” Naoya grumbled. “Man, that was embarrassing…”

Yu gasped. “It’s not embarrassing! I mean- it is a little bit, but it’s good at boosting team spirit and morale!”

“I actually have less morale after that.” Ren said with a smirk. Yu crossed his arms, shaking his head.

“You all are so serious. It’s good to loosen up before a big event, not get all tense and worried about what’s going to happen next. Sure, we shouldn’t get cocky, but we’re all strong Persona-users, and we have enough variability alone to cover whatever positions we need to. This is literally the best group that could have been picked if we need to fight something big.”

“Hopefully we don’t need to fight, but Narukami-san is right,” Maya agreed. “We should stay loose- being flexible is important! We don’t know what’ll happen nex--” Before Maya could finish, the platform came to a sudden halt. The platform below the seven Persona-users began to fall into what seemed to be a vast abyss, darkness filling their vision.

* * *

Makoto actually preferred falling.

Not… in general. He’d rather keep his feet on the ground in most situations, but the fact that everyone was so panicked and focused on the concept of falling to their potential deaths instead of on him was a good change of pace. He didn’t like the way they were looking at him earlier- like he was something to be pitied. He had died- people had mourned, that was it. He’d much rather have them look at him as if he was some freak of nature, or a zombie. He had accepted his lot in life, and he was fully willing to go back to do his duty as the ‘Great Seal’.

At least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

At some point, while he was sure they were falling down, he suddenly got the feeling that they were more so ‘flying up’, and then ‘tumbling left’, and then ‘careening right’- and everything in between. It was nauseating. If he could vomit, he would have. 

Eventually, they hit the ground. Or… maybe a ceiling. Or a wall. He was disoriented and couldn’t tell. Nonetheless, he and the others began to look around at where they had been. While the Sea of the Collective Unconscious had been, well… a ‘sea’- this was more like they had washed up on some non-Euclidean shore. It was difficult to tell where was up and what was down, and the platform they were on seemed to find some distorted space between abnormally slanted and perfectly flat. The sky seemed to be made out of a billion glittering stars- the ‘consciousnesses’ of the Collective Unconsciousness. Yet those stars seemed to be spiraling and spinning rapidly, enough to make someone go insane just by staring too long. The universe was out of order. The chaos from the demons unleashed on the world was throwing people into a frenzy. If Makoto could guess what was happening- people were probably awakening to their ‘other selves’ in desperation to defend themselves or being taken over by shadows and demons. Or both. Either way, things were far from safe, and a much further cry from normal. 

He took a step forward on the ‘ground’- he made the mistake of looking down at it and realizing it was made of the same, spiraling mess as the sky, except encapsulated in some reflective ‘container’ or ‘box’ of sorts. Again, the shape of the ground was disorienting enough, and so he found himself looking around for Aigis. He bumped into her- not exactly sure which direction she came from. 

“This is amazing… I have been trying to take pictures as data for the Shadow Operatives, but none of the images are coming out clearly. Each one is more distorted than the next.” She said. 

“I’m guessing we’re at the ‘center’ of the Collective Unconscious. Which means whatever deity is waiting for us can’t be too far away.” He looked around, searching for the others while trying to keep his own wits about him. Eventually, they all seemed to stumble into the same spot. 

“My eyes hurt…” Ren mumbled.

“My brain hurts…” Maya groaned. 

Yu was heavily rubbing his temples, his eyes squeezed shut. “Man, I don’t know how much they would help here, but I could honestly use Teddie’s glasses right about now.”

Makoto glanced over at Aigis. “You seem pretty okay. Are your eyes able to comprehend this?”

“Not in the slightest,” Aigis replied, “It’s just that my ‘visceral’ reactions are nonexistent. If I were purely human, I would most likely be experiencing a stroke just from all of the pictures I attempted to take.

“Yikes.”

Tatsuya looked around through narrowed eyes. “If we didn’t have our Personas, we very well have been experiencing strokes. If I had to guess, we’re in… the Kadath Mandala… that place where souls are born, and where fragmented souls drift. Do you remember, Maya?”

“Iä! Iä! _Cthulhu_ fhtagn!” The woman suddenly cried out, her eyes wide.

“A-Amano-sensei?!” Ren asked. Yu grabbed her by the shoulders. The others tensed up, preparing to summon their Personas before she shook her head, rubbing at her eyes.

“Aha… sorry, guys. Just… had a really bad flashback. Jeez, this place was a mess, Tacchan. Who’d want to remember?”

“Still… that was a good reminder. We shouldn’t let our guard down here. When Maya and I were here, we had a guide- now we’re just wandering blindly.” Tatsuya instructed. “We have to push forward nonetheless. Stick close, and don’t look around too much. Based on the nature of this space, I’m guessing that even if we walk in a ‘straight line’, we’ll end up curving and most likely reach our destination. So let’s get moving.”

Makoto nodded, before starting to head forward. “Aigis and I will lead. She’s got robo-eyes, and I can handle this terrain a bit better than you all can. If one of us drops, then we swap with Suou-san and Amano-san, since they’ve apparently been here before.”

“Good thinking, Yuuki.” Tatsuya said. “Well, let’s go!”

They began to trek forward. They were quiet, keeping their ears open for any incoming threats, and focusing all of their power on not being driven insane by the maddening terrain. They found themselves inching forward, their pace incredibly slow as they tried to make their way forward. At some moments it felt as if they were slipping, sliding down a steep hill. Other moments it felt as if they were climbing the steepest mountains imaginable. While they had been well-rested before, simply walking through this place was draining. 

Every so often, one of them would hear something, prompting bursts of tense conversation.

“What was that?”

“That was just the wind.”

“There isn’t any wind here?”

“Then what is that?!”

“We’re being watched…”

“Just- calm down everyone!”

Their fuses were growing shorter by the second, the geometry of this realm digging and pulling at their brains as they spent far too much of their brain power trying to comprehend where they were stepping than trying to focus on being cordial.

Naoya let out a panicked yell as he suddenly fell to the side- as if the ground under him had vanished entirely. He began falling sideways, like they had been walking alongside a wall instead of the ground like they had thought. Maya quickly reached out an arm, grabbing him before she started falling as well. Like a chain, they tried to grab one another before gravity betrayed them, and they began plummeting- or spiraling- or simply enough just falling once more.

“Cu Chulainn! Grydyne!” Tatsuya yelled, hoping to pull all of them together and- potentially find out which way was down. The spell did the first thing seamlessly, although the second goal was less successful as the spell went into effect, seemingly constricting and crushing them against one another as they began to collapse into a tight, excruciatingly painful ball.

“The spell!” Yu choked out. “Stop the spell…!” 

Tatsuya put away his Persona, the effects dissipating as they continued to separate and fall- damaged and disoriented, hardly even sure if they were still ‘falling’ in the same direction they had been before. 

“Athena!” Aigis yelled desperately, summoning her Persona as it jabbed it’s spear into the ‘wall’ they had just been walking on. It seamlessly gripped on, Aigis grabbing onto her Persona before looking down. “Wait- your Personas! Use your Personas to climb!”

Without hesitation and argument due to not having any other options, the collective seven summoned their Personas, using them to grip against the non-Euclidean walls. The hands and weapons on the Personas seemed to grip on smoothly, allowing them to have a lot more purchase than before.

“Wow, amazing Aigis-san!” Ren called out. 

“I get it…” Tatsuya mumbled. “This is where souls- and Personas are born- they have more of a solid form here because this is where they belong. It’s like pouring water into more water.”

“I… don’t get it,” Naoya grunted, as he used Amon-Ra’s staff to pull himself up. “But I’m not going to complain…!”

They continued to climb, ignoring the burning feeling that their progress was being watched, and trying their best not to comment on the sounds of beating wings and scraping metal that they knew for a fact that they were hearing. Their goal was to push forward, and they were doing so to the best of their ability, before Makoto- who had been using Thanatos’ blades to grind himself upward- pointed at something in the distance. 

It was a massive monolith- pitch black that seemed to stand out against the swirling mass of colors and nonsense that made up the rest of this realm. Gravity seemed to shift as Makoto continued forward to the point where he felt confident enough to stand up without relying on his Persona. He got up, Aigis and the others following suit as they began to walk forward, before a shape began to drift out of the monolithic structure, and walk towards them.

It was a boy who looked to be about Makoto’s age. He had hair that was swept back, and dull blue eyes that matched the cold, judgemental hues of Makoto’s own eyes- the only difference being a small beauty mark just under his left eye. He wore a large yellow scarf that was draped around his neck, fluttering in a nonsensical fashion, matching the nonsensical abundance- or possible lack of any wind in this realm. He wore a white uniform with rolled back, black sleeves, and black pants with two dark suspender straps. His hands were set in his pockets as he approached Makoto. Aigis gasped. Makoto’s eyes narrowed.

“Long time no see, Ryoji.”

Mochizuki Ryoji, the Avatar of Death, gave Makoto a casual wave and a friendly smile. “Right back at you. So, you managed to get a break from being the Great Seal, huh? Good for you. You’ve needed a break. You’ve been through so much.” His words sounded sad. They sounded genuine- and they were. Makoto had been prepared to assume this was some sort of fake- an obstacle put before him and the others… but this was the real Ryoji. 

That didn’t stop him from being an obstacle though.

“Why are you here, Ryoji?” Aigis asked, Makoto listening as she readied her weapons. 

Ryoji sighed. “...Always quick to fight, Ai-chan. But I understand. Listen, the Great Will is fragmented. The representation of Chaos, and Nyx are opposed to you coming any further. The only reason you’ve made it this far is because your ‘benefactor’ gave you an express pass.”

“Philemon…” Tatsuya murmured, as the others caught up to Makoto and Aigis. “So, Nyarlathotep and Nyx want us dead, and Philemon just wants to see how far we can go?”

“Do you know this guy, Yuuki-san?” Ren asked. Makoto nodded.

“He’s… an old friend.”

Ryoji seemed taken aback by Makoto’s words, but looked happy nonetheless. A regretful smile formed on his face. “...You’re too kind, Makoto. But unfortunately, flattery won’t get you anywhere. I am an Avatar of Nyx- and by proxy an Avatar of the Great Will.” He tugged at his scarf, his eyes growing dark. “...Fight me. Fight me and defeat me, and you’ll earn the right to ascend to where the three fragmented Gods lie. If you can’t… then humanity won’t even have a chance to decide its future.”

Behind Ryoji the monolith shuddered, before forms began to spill out from it. Metallic angels with massive, blade-like wings. Each one identical to the next. Each one saying that same thing, over and over. 

_”I am Metatron. I am the voice of the Lord. Turn back now, or face your doom.”_ They all echoed, before the twisting sky was filled with hundreds upon hundreds of Metatron’s. Makoto’s eyes narrowed. Ryoji shrugged.

“You all defeated me last time because I underestimated your strength and your resolve. Your collective resolve has only grown since then. I know that these angels will be child's play for you all.” Ryoji said casually, tossing his scarf to the side before beginning to transform. His legs began to grow longer and more slender, his toes stretching and sharpening to points as they faded to a deep black color. His body began to stretch and grow, his suspenders falling and expanding into sharp, dress-like armor that wrapped around his waist. His skin grew pale, and four large, feathered wings sprouted from his back. His arms carefully began to be covered with black feathers and shimmering dark armor, along with his chest and body. His face began to slowly drain of any sort of expression, becoming a deathly white mask with a horrifyingly wide smile that revealed an empty black void for a mouth, and his eyes turned just as hollow and black as the mouth underneath them. The top of his hair began to twist and rise, before it formed a black, impressive crown.

Ryoji was gone just as quickly as he arrived. Only the Avatar of Nyx remained. 

The Avatar of Nyx summoned a sword, the air around it beginning to shimmer. Makoto narrowed his eyes, the form of Messiah taking shape behind him as the Nyx Avatar summoned a sword that seemed as dark and deep as the night sky. The swarm of Angels began to dive downwards, the ‘sky’ heating up to bizarrely intense degrees as they let out massive bursts of divine fire, and let it rain upon the seven ‘heretics’.

“I’ll handle Ryoji!” Makoto yelled. “Everyone else, focus on the angels!”

There was a collective sound of agreement as 

__

_”The Arcana is the means by which All is revealed.”_

It flapped its wings once, sending out a massive shockwave. The air around The Nyx Avatar shimmered again, before Makoto recognized the faint symbol of The World arcana drifting in front of him for a split moment.

__

_”Through bonds, triumph can be easily found- and yet those same bonds can lead to nothing but pain and ruin. To see the final fate created by these bonds is an honor that few get to experience.”_

Makoto rushed forward, Messiah swinging it’s coffin-adorned blade towards the Nyx Avatar. With one swift movement, the two blades clashed- the resulting pulse causing cracks to form in the distorted ground- souls and energy beginning to trickle and pour out.

His eyes briefly flickered back to the others, preparing to fight an onslaught of angels.

He realized that he had died to protect the ones that he had cared about. The only reason he had come back was because the thing he died for- the safety they deserved to have- was being threatened. And so he had come back. Death didn’t scare him- even the version of it that was staring him straight in the face, because he was willing to die again, and again, and again- just so his sacrifice wouldn’t be in vain, and his friends could live on happily.

No matter what it took.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a vague reference to Tatsuya's Scenario in Eternal Punishment (which unfortunately never got an official translation, but you can find a fan translation alongside some incredibly good notes here: https://p2px-scenario.tumblr.com) with the 'Kadath Mandala' and Maya's subsequent Cthulhu chanting.
> 
> It's actually pretty interesting and covers some Deep Persona Lore, canonizes Tatsuya's 'time stop' ability, and has some fun and tense character moments- so I'd recommend checking it out.


	34. Tranquility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gang Meets God.

The battle against Ryoji was… redundant, for the most part. While the Avatar of Nyx and Makoto seemed to be at a standstill, the others were continuously battling against wave after wave of ‘Metatrons’. It was getting to the point where the Angels were falling in one hit after the other but seemed to be continuously replaced.

“Damn it, they’re just stalling us!” Naoya yelled, Amon-Ra’s staff stabbing through the chest of yet another metallic archangel. “We can’t just sit around and do this forever, and trust me- I’m pretty sure these fuckin’ angels are going to last forever!”

Artemis Prime let out another burst of ice, slowing down a few more of the archangels in their tracks- giving them enough time for Ren to slash through them with Raoul. “You know, I totally agree, Toudou-san!” Maya yelled. “Here’s the thing- Makoto’s weird Nyx-friend is blocking our one exit!”

“Well, we have to do something!” Yu yelled, summoning Izanagi-no-Okami, the godlike Persona spinning his blade as it cleaved through more and more angels. “I mean- this is definitely good training, but I’m going to run out of energy soon…”

“That’s probably what Nyx and Nyarlathotep are hoping for!” Ren shouted, backflipping off an angel and summoning his Persona, watching as Raoul's claws tore through one of massive Archangel’s chests. “These angels are infinite- so if they whittle us down and kill us, it’s over! We’re the only ones losing here!”

“Great, we’ve figured out the ‘trick’. Now we need a solution.” Tatsuya said, Apollo Prime effortlessly grabbing onto the Metatrons by the leg and melting it with his Personas flames, before throwing it like a ragdoll into a few more of the angels.

“Maybe we could help Yuuki-kun?” Yu offered. “If we beat that Nyx thing, maybe--”

They all glanced up at the fight between Makoto and the Nyx Avatar. The two of them were moving at incredibly impressive speeds and were somehow both airborne. Makoto seemed to be unleashing a flurry of fusion spells and Personas, every so often clashing blades and causing the entire realm to rumble and crack slightly.

“...Sure, go ahead, Narukami-san… see if you can keep up…” Ren muttered.

“What in the actual fuck is the ‘Universe Arcana’, anyway?!” Naoya yelled, irritated. “Is it’s only power ‘do all the bullshit normal people can’t do’?!”

“Not the time, Toudou!” Tatsuya yelled. “Where’s Aigis!”

“I am here,” Aigis said. She didn’t seem to be actively fighting, looking around at the cracks in the ground as weaponry on her shoulders seemed to be auto-targeting and taking out angels in an embarrassingly effortless manner. “I am just thinking.”

“Aigis-san, maybe stop thinking and start--” Ren began, before one of the thousands of Metatrons punched him in the gut, sending him skidding across the ground.

“Ren-kun!” Maya yelled before she was suddenly grabbed by the neck and swung by one of the robotic angels, Tatsuya narrowly getting there and slicing the angel’s arm off before it could do any lasting damage. Before he could say anything however, he was bludgeoned from behind and slammed into the ground. 

“Damn it- they’re overwhelming us!” Yu muttered, Izanagi-no-Okami’s blade narrowly holding back several of the offending angels. “We can’t keep this up! I hope you’re thinking of something useful, Aigis-san!”

Aigis nodded. “While this realm only interacts with our physical bodies on the most basic of levels, it seems to respond more to our metaphysical selves- or our Personas. Each time Makoto clashes against Ryoji-kun using Messiah’s blade, it causes a shockwave that forms cracks in the realm--”

“Give us the footnotes, Aigis-san!” Naoya shouted.

She folded her arms. “Right. So…” One of her automatic weapons sniped an archangel out of the air. “I propose that we run.”

“Cool plan, Ai-chan!” Maya coughed, narrowly ducking out of the way of an incoming metal fist. “But, uh, how are we gonna do that?”

“We break through,” Aigis said simply. “If ‘Philemon’ is guiding us, then we shall end up at our designated destination nonetheless.” 

Ren blinked. “Wait… what do you mean break thr--”

“Commencing Orgia Mode,” Aigis said. Steam began to expel from her body- her body beginning to glow a faint red color just from the expelled heat alone. Her body covered in intense blue flames that formed her Persona. “Athena! God’s Hand!” She yelled.

The ‘sky’ rumbled, as a gigantic golden fist began to rocket downward, obliterating anything in its path. Aigis jumped out of the way as the fist collided with the ground below them, plowing through and shattering it, forming a massive chasm. It began to draw the Persona-users in, almost akin to a black hole as they tumbled and found themselves flying backward- the angels, Makoto, and Ryoji remarkably unaffected. 

Makoto looked down, watching as his teammates were sucked into a massive, chasm-like void, before glancing over at Ryoji. “...I’m pretty sure that’s my cue to leave.”

_”Are you sure? It may lead to your death.”_

“Eh.” Makoto shrugged. “Aigis wouldn’t do something like this without a reason. I’ll see you on the other side, Ryoji.” He gave his former friend a tired wave, before dropping towards the ground, plummeting past angels and finding himself careening into darkness.

* * *

“Ow…” Ren mumbled.

“Are we dead… or did Ai-chan do it…?” Maya groaned.

“Everyone who should be breathing is still breathing,” Aigis confirmed. “It seems as if my theory was correct. That’s good. I was only about 50% positive we wouldn’t be killed instantly.”

Yu coughed. “Good… work… Aigis… just- maybe warn us, and don’t risk our lives on a 50/50 chance?”

“I thought it was cool, Aigis.” Makoto said, calmly.

The Persona-users slowly stood up, looking around as they found themselves in another chamber. Unlike the others that seemed to be grand and bristling with raw energy and grandiose colors, this seemed drab in comparison. A dark room with empty, colorless walls. Attached were two forms. A man and a woman, both of them stripped and battered- their nude forms unnaturally thin and worn down. The two of them were posed in a crude approximation of a christ-like position, their hands and feet pierced through and stabbed into the wall before the seven, unwitting humans. 

Tatsuya recognized the woman. A snake-like tattoo crossed her emaciated body, her dark hair messy and knotted. Red eyes seemed to lose their luster, as her gaze was averted. Out of shame, perhaps. There was a look of frustration, sharp teeth chewing at a gnarled, bloodied lip. The form of a dying, pained snake hung from one of her breasts, blood dripping from its dry, scaled mouth. The first woman- the original sinner, Lilith- stripped of her beauty and strength was postured before them.

The man was familiar to Ren. Through sunken eyes and pallid skin, the vague traces of a lost angelic nature seemed to be apparent. Discolored eyes, one the color of a muddled, polluted sea- the other the color of dwindling embers. Long blonde hair was strung over his face, rolling and shifting slightly as the man looked up at the new arrivals. A wry smile crossed his face- although it was empty and prideless. Six, battered wings covered his back- white feathers mottled and tangled. The Demon Lord, Lucifer- devoid of power and glory. 

The walls rumbled with tired moans and growls as the group braced themselves, looking at more demons that covered the walls. The massive, brutal form of Satan was laying in pieces, his massive, heavy carapace shattered and destroyed. The disgusting, insectoid form of Beelzebub was splattered against an adjacent wall- a pungent, nauseating smell coming from the wounds in his body. They looked around. Mara. Lucifuge. Belial. The demons that had reigned during Lucifer’s brief rule were now being presented as battered, destroyed trophies in a sickening fashion. 

Lucifer finally spoke. His voice was hoarse and unsettlingly normal. Not in the sense of mimicking the comparatively drab, average intonation of humans- more so as if the strength of his very vocal cords had been sapped away with the rest of him.

“...So we meet again, children of Man.” He said, calmly. His eyes were focused on Ren for a moment, before slowly glazing over the others, his expression unreadable. “...It pains me to have you see me in such a… pathetic state. But this does seem to be rather fortunate.”

Maya frowned. “What… happened here?”

Lilith let out a wry, empty laugh. “This is the work of your ‘kind and benevolent’ god. They had you tear through our ranks… dwindle our numbers and weaken our bodies enough to restrain us like this. The heroic users of ‘Persona’, nothing more than the flesh-ridden puppets of the Lord on high…”

Yu frowned. “Your demons were attacking Tokyo! Anything we did was in self-defense! And I’m sure the same goes for those who found themselves in that ‘other world’ too.”

“The demons in the ‘Other Side’ were hostile. Fighting for survival was the only option.” Aigis confirmed, cold eyes glaring at the two, powerless demons.

“...You both have a point.” Lucifer’s brow furrowed. “That’s enough, Lilith. To dwell on the past isn’t going to get us anywhere. Besides, the blame rests upon me. I sent you, Satan, and your subordinate demons to Tokyo on a false mission for expansion, but only so that the rest of my plans could move forward without hindrance.”

Makoto rested his hands on his hips. “So… was getting hung like a sack of potatoes part of your plan too?”

Lucifer only weakly smiled in response. “...The decisions you make from here on will shape the condition of your world forever forth. As you can see, the avatar of the ‘Great Will’ in this universe has suppressed my form and my power.” As if to prove a point, he began to flex his body. His skin shifted to a deep blue color, his eyes flaring a violent red as his pale, emaciated body threatened to grow more muscular and demonic, before suddenly snapping back to it’s weakened, ‘angelic’ state. “...As of now, I can not do anything. But perhaps you can…”

“Not a damn chance,” Tatsuya scoffed. “As if we’d ever side with the ‘Demon King’ himself. Lilith had the gall to call us ‘puppets of the Lord’, but if we worked alongside you, we’d be nothing but pawns in your little game.”

“Mind who you’re talking to, ‘Sun’!” Lilith snapped, her loss in power clearly not draining her sense of determination. “The Great Will’s Avatar has no more use for you- why do you think Nyx has rained down nothing but pain? That Nyarlathotep crafts these games for you to struggle through? That Philemon allows you to go through hardship after hardship with no intention to help? And yet you blindly claim that they have your best interests in mind. A toxic relationship between God and Man… no wonder they consider this universe forfeit. Filled with such uneven amounts of success and failure.”

Yu raised his hand. “Not to be Mr. ‘Late to the Party’, but I’m a bit confused. You keep talking about this ‘Great Will’, but…”

Lucifer nodded. “Perhaps I can expound a bit. Much like the divide between what you call this ‘Side’ and the ‘Other Side’, there are multiple universes- multiple realities and infinitely expound upon themselves…”

Maya nodded. “So… multiverse theory? Or, I guess the ‘Butterfly Effect’?”

“Excellent.” Lucifer’s smile grew slightly wider. “Consider it like this. There are a series of realities, some similar to yours. For example, there is a reality where the Phantom Thieves chose to align themselves with the False God Yaldabaoth, and enact their own sense of justice. Or a reality where Narukami chose to avert his eyes from the ‘truth’. A world where Makoto Yuuki was born female, or a world where Sonomura Maki’s ‘ideal reality’ overtook the real world. Of course, there are also realities where you were never born- where Japan was ravaged by demons and nuclear warfare. Those worlds are overseen by the ‘Great Will’, and the Great Will sends avatars to serve as each world’s respective ‘God’. In your case, the beings Philemon, Nyarlathotep, and Nyx.”

“So the ‘Great Will’ is God? I mean… it’s not like fighting a god is anything new to us.” Yu murmured. 

“Best case scenario, we’re not going to fight,” Maya commented. “Philemon is a reasonable guy, we just need to talk things out with him. I mean, he’s the one who brought us all this way.”

“Philemon is just one-third of this “Great Will” thing, though,” Makoto grumbled. “Nyx is ambivalent, and I’m pretty sure this Nyarlathotep guy actively hates us based on what I’ve heard. So, like… we might have to fight.”

“And that’s just what Lucifer wants, right?” Tatsuya said, giving the two demons a pointed glare.

Lucifer shook his head. “While it… irks me to be this powerless at the moment, what I desire is a world where humanity can thrive. I ruled the Other Side, but the victory was hollow. Demons can’t progress- they can’t learn- they can’t truly grow as human beings can. If you choose the path of conflict and walk alongside me and my armies, then so be it. If you forge your own path- I only ask that you remain cognizant and don’t forget what you’ve experienced. That you grow and push forward. Humans are wonderful creatures- to see them… to see you being toyed like this in world after world- I’m sure you can see how infinitely irritating it is.”

Naoya fiddled with his earring. “Whaddya mean ‘don’t forget’?”

“There are an infinite amount of realities that the three, fractured gods rule over- alongside an infinite amount that they do not.” Lilith began, “This is just one possibility- and that means to them your lives are inconsequential. I wouldn’t be shocked if they offer you a ‘fresh’ future, allowing you to abandon your world for the sake of something ‘better’. If my knowledge is correct, they already have…” Her eyes trailed over to Tatsuya and Maya.

Tatsuya scowled. “...I see. Fine, then. We’ve heard your piece. I’m sure that Philemon and Nyarlathotep are only letting you speak to us as a formality.”

Lucifer chuckled. “...Most likely. After all, why would you ever trust a demon?”

Ren furrowed his brow. “Hey, this might be a wild thing to say, but maybe Lucifer has a point? I mean, he was the one who helped me get rid of Nyarlathotep.”

Maya blinked. “Is that true? Huh…”

Before any of them could think further on the matter, or even respond, they found themselves lifted into the air- their bodies turning into blinding white light before their vision was obscured in an intense flash.

And then for a moment, nothingness.

* * *

“I’m getting really tired of just getting zapped everywhere.” Makoto mumbled. The others groaned in agreement.

The seven chosen humans awoke in a large, circular chamber. It was simple, yet in a contrasting way to the darkened room that the demons were being held in. The walls were high and bright- almost akin to staring at the sun. The ceiling was open, revealing the vast starscape of the Sea of Souls. Before the group were three humanoid figures. 

One was feminine. Practically featureless, and its skin was as dark as the night and covered with faint, glittering stars. The only thing that was reminiscent of a recognizable feature was one massive, red eye in the center of its face. The eye stared at the group coldly- almost robotic as it seemed to be gauging each one of them.

The next was a bit more masculine. Again, with pitch-black skin. It had green, pulsating veins that seemed to roil and shift in a nauseating manner. Again, no true face, but a white featureless mask rested where its face would be. Despite the lack of any features, the group could practically feel a condescending glare coming from it, as if it was staring at a group of rats that had crept in through the cracks in the walls.

The final was a bit different. Its body glowed a faint yellow, a pattern across its blank face that resembled that of a blue butterfly. In contrast to the empty cold glare of the first figure, and the derisive gaze of the second, this one seemed to be a bit more welcoming. Its posture was relaxed, hands folded neatly behind its back before nodding towards them.

Nyx. Nyarlathotep. Philemon. 

The forms they were in felt raw and primal in their simplicity as if they had cast away the bodies they had used to interact with the human race. And yet, it still felt like a formality- as if they hadn’t even breached the surface of truly understanding the three ‘gods’.

_”You made it.”_ Philemon said, his tone a mixture of bemused and impressed, as if he had doubts about them making it this far.

**”You made it.”** Nyarlathotep echoed, his tone bitter and tense.

_”I had no doubt you could handle Metatron, but everything else… to make it this far… it truly is a sign of how impressive the human spirit is. You braved countless obstacles, defeated monstrous demons, and awakened to new powers. I am truly impressed at your abilities.”_

**”However, in doing so you’ve lost countless lives to the demonic, carelessly tampered with forces beyond your control and showed just how fragile and volatile the human spirit is, and the city of Tokyo- and the rest of the world- is sure to fall to ruin.”**

Nyarlathotep and Philemon exchanged glances, as Nyx continued to stare toward the group. 

_”Today is a day of Judgement. This world has been the testing ground of many different things. However, you all have struggled enough.”_

**”I hope you didn’t fall for those demons and their little ‘pity party’ act. I figured an audience with Lucifer would show you the alternative. Lucifer’s world of demons was lawless and disgusting. The world that we control was filled with nothing but raw, untapped potential- as much as it pains me to admit it. I’d keep that in mind before you make a decision.”**

Philemon nodded slowly. _”Correct. Enough conversation for now, though. We’ve been split for long enough.”_

The three figures slowly began to converge into each other, their forms overlapping and fading into one another. The three bodies melded into a gigantic, bright, formless mass that seemed to stretch and twist endlessly. Flashes of imagery could be seen within the light. A pristine, clear Tokyo. A ravaged, infested Tokyo. The planet being destroyed, before suddenly being created anew. Moments from the lives of the Persona-users: Ren destroying Yaldabaoth, Yu tossing away his glasses and destroying the fog. Makoto sacrificing his life at the heart of Nyx. Aigis cradling Makoto’s body on the roof of their high school. Maya holding Tatsuya for what she thought was the last time, and Tatsuya watching as Maya died in his arms. Naoya visiting Maki in the hospital, wounds still fresh from the battles beforehand. They were all filled with a sense of warmth that seemed to collapse into an overwhelming feeling of dread, before being washed over with a sense of blank, empty tranquility. 

None of them said anything. None of them knew what to say. Ren’s fingers flexed anxiously as he stared into his eternal past, future, and present. Yu’s jaw tensed as he saw visions of those he cared about dance by him. Makoto’s eyes watered as he was shown what he lost, and Aigis’ eyes narrowed as she saw what she still had to lose. Maya anxiously gripped Tatsuya’s hand, as he glared at the developing god before them. Naoya’s eyes narrowed, feeling the immense power that seemed to practically pour from this being.

The formless mass seemed to finally dare to take something resembling a human shape. It was massive- almost a hundred feet tall. Bright eyes that resembled that of stars in the prime of their lives stared down at the seven Persona-users, as long arms covered in robes that seemed to shimmer and shift like the rolling, vast oceans. Hair that seemed to cover the ceiling entirely, shifting and drifting as if it were the calm skies itself. 

It spoke. 

It’s lips didn’t move. It was as if the words were being blasted entirely into their skulls, causing the seven to wince and stumble slightly.

_ **I AM THOU, AND THOU ART I...** _

A mixture of awe and fear crossed over the Persona-users.

“...So this is it, huh?” Naoya mumbled.

Maya bit her lip. “Fusion between gods… I never thought I’d see it. But… that resonance…!”

“I am detecting power that is far off my discernable scales. The threat of Nyx overwhelmed my sensors enough, but this is far beyond that…!” Aigis gasped.

_ **I AM THE ETERNAL MOTHER OF ALL. BEARER OF THE EARTH, AND BIRTHER OF ALL LIFE. THIS IS YOUR DAY OF JUDGEMENT. I HAVE OBSERVED HUMANITY THROUGH FRACTURED EYES. I HAVE SEEN THE SIDES CAPABLE OF ANGELIC GRACE AND KINDNESS, AND THE TRAITS BELAYING DEMONIC HATRED AND CRUELTY.** _

“I… I don’t understand what I’m feeling. Just looking at it… it makes me feel as if I want to rest forever, like I’m back home…” Yu mumbled.

Tatsuya reached for his lighter. “...This feeling. I haven’t felt like this- at peace- for years… something definitely isn’t right.”

Ren’s eyes narrowed, tears unconsciously beginning to slip down his cheeks. “...We couldn’t fight this god if we tried… I feel so… insignificant next to it…”

_ **YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A LUXURY THAT FEW HUMANS ARE ALLOWED. BE STILL AND REJOICE...** _

Makoto dropped to one knee. “...Nyx was strong enough, and we already know how much stronger things get when they’re fused. Maybe we never had a choice to begin with…”

The gods' arms spread. Izanami was overwhelmingly powerful, but able to be overcome with the power of truth. Yaldabaoth was able to be destroyed due to the beliefs of humanity. Nyarlathotep was only truly foiled due to the assistance of Philemon.

But this thing was the truth. It was humanity. It held the power of three beings that were unbeatable as far as any of them knew. 

It spoke once more- ‘voice’ reverberating through the heads of the seven ‘chosen’ Persona-users as they felt themselves kneeling, sweat practically pouring from their bodies, eyes squeezed shut and the faint trickle of blood coming from their ears.

_ **I AM THE TRUE GOD. THE ONE WHO TRULY RULES OVER POWER. I AM GAIA.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a shorter chapter than usual (if you call ~3800 words 'short'), but I'm also going to post two of the optional endings (I've taken to calling them the 'Peace' end and the 'Rebellion' end) at the same time, and then proceed as normal with the third quote-unquote 'true' ending and the epilogue! 
> 
> So keep an eye out for a double update!
> 
> \- Wiggityfresh
> 
> EDIT 7/20/2020: HI IT'S ME, WIGGITYFRESH. THIS ISN'T AN IMPORTANT UPDATE I JUST WANTED TO LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT SMTV HAS GOTTEN A CONFIRMED RELEASE DATE AND I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT.


	35. Forgetting the Pain (PEACE ENDING)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaia makes an offer the others can't refuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said I'd do a double update of this ending and the Rebellion ending, but I changed my mind. I'll post up the rebellion end sometime during the weekend, but I felt like posting both at once would undercut their impact.
> 
> Keep an eye out! There's still 2 endings to go!

** _WHAT GOOD IS THERE TO RESIST?_ **

** _TO INSIST THAT YOU KNOW MORE THAN YOUR OWN GOD?_ **

** _I HAVE OBSERVED YOU HUMANS FOR MILLENNIA, UPON THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES. AND TO THIS, I MAKE AN OFFER- _ **

** _YOUR WORLD HAS BEEN FILLED WITH NOTHING BUT PAIN AND AGONY. STRUGGLE AFTER STRUGGLE. AS A REWARD FOR YOUR EFFORTS, I CAN GRANT YOU A NEW WORLD. A PEACEFUL WORLD, WHERE NONE ARE HARMED._ **

** _WHAT GOOD IS THERE TO SAY NO? HOW CONTRADICTORY IT WOULD BE FOR YOU TO FIGHT FOR PEACE, AND THEN ABANDON YOUR CHANCE AT IT?_ **

None of them had a good argument. The god that was before them was too powerful, their very form difficult to look at directly. Fighting seemed like a worthless option- a reckless option. They hadn’t come here to fight anyways. They came here for a solution- a solution to the demonic infestation that was ravaging their world. They had been called here to listen, and listening felt like the only real thing that they could do at the moment.

It was hard to tell where Gaia was looking. But soon Naoya felt like he was in the spotlight. Sweat began to bead down his forehead. Gaia’s very presence had forced the group of Persona-users to their knees, but under the direct gaze of Gaia, Naoya felt as if his entire body was going to explode.

** _TOUDOU NAOYA. THE MESSIAH OF MINDFULNESS. _ **

Naoya felt the need to look up, his eyes watering at the vibrant, intense being. “...Uh, present?” He had never been called a ‘messiah’ before. It didn’t seem to fit. He had never felt like he was some sort of hero- just someone who happened to be at the right places at the right time, and who just did what he felt was right.

** _YOU HAVE LED AN AIMLESS LIFE SINCE THE EVENTS OF SPRING, 1996. THE EVENTS REGARDING THE DEVA SYSTEM AND THE POWERS OF PERSONA HAVE LEFT YOU CONFUSED AND UNCERTAIN ABOUT YOUR OWN MEANING. YOU STRUGGLE TO FORGET, AND YOU STRUGGLE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT YOUR PURPOSE IS._ **

“Go ahead, shout it to the entire world, why don’t you…?” He mumbled. But it wasn’t entirely wrong. Ever since high school, he wasn’t exactly sure what to do with himself. He had left his friends, and had been scarce ever since. It had taken him too long to even try and reconnect with Maki, and while they were in a relationship, he still felt on edge all the time. He wanted to be part of something again, but… what?

** _A WORLD WHERE YOU TRULY MEAN SOMETHING. THE WORLD I CAN PROVIDE WILL GIVE YOU THAT. A WORLD WHERE YOU CAN TRULY BE YOUR TRUE SELF._ **

Naoya closed his eyes, thinking. Gaia’s piercing gaze snapped towards Yu.

** _NARUKAMI YU. THE MESSIAH OF TRUTH._ **

Yu looked up, trying to keep up a look of determination. But what exactly did one say in response to a god? “...I’m here.” He finally answered, simply, after a moment of deliberation.

** _THE YEAR IN INABA WAS INFLUENTIAL ON THE COURSE OF YOUR LIFE, AND YET STILL CARRIED ITS FAIR SHARE OF PAIN. NONE MADE IT OUT OF THAT EVENT UNSCATHED, AS MUCH AS YOU WOULD LIKE TO BELIEVE._ **

Yu didn’t totally understand, until he thought about it a bit more. While it was true that he and his friends grew considerably over that time, they had been forced to see the worst parts of themselves. And… accepting those parts didn’t mean they were gone forever, and in a way… they had peaked. Besides, there were more people in Inaba outside of the Investigation Team. Nanako. Nanako would be turning thirteen this year, and each year she seemed to slowly remember more and more of what happened to her in the T.V world. The trauma of her lying in a hospital bed. Understanding the pain she went through, even though everyone had been so careful about not reminding her. It had to be agonizing. Slowly remembering the twisted, distorted forms that formed the T.V world, and not being able to say anything about it for fear of coming across as crazy. Nanako had always been good at bottling up her feelings. He just wished she didn’t need to.

** _YOU CRAVE PEACE FOR YOUR YOUNGER COUSIN. A WORLD WHERE THE MOST PAIN TO COME TO HER LIFE IS A SCRATCHED KNEE, OR A STUBBED TOE. THAT IS SELFLESSNESS TRULY BEFITTING OF A MESSIAH, AND A WISH I CAN TRULY GRANT._ **

A world… where Nanako would live without that piercing, lasting pain? “Nanako’s mother… Dojima-san’s wife…” He trailed off.

** _IF THAT IS A FACET OF THE PEACEFUL WORLD YOU DESIRE, YOU ARE ENTITLED TO IT._ **

Yu nodded, shakily. Gaia’s gaze fell onto Maya.

** _AMANO MAYA. THE MESSIAH OF REMEMBRANCE. _ **

“Huh. I figured it would be ‘positivity’.” She replied with a weak smile.

** _YOU CARRY DILUTED MEMORIES FROM TWO TIMELINES. A SCAR THAT NEVER HEALED, DESPITE THE BIRTH OF A NEW WORLD. YOUR FACADE OF POSITIVITY IS ONLY THAT, A FACADE- YOU STRUGGLE WITH UNDERSTANDING YOUR OWN SELF, AND DESPISE YOURSELF FOR IT._ **

Maya was silent. She didn’t totally understand what she wanted. She wanted to be back in the action again, but the ‘action’ resulted in people getting hurt. Everything that had happened here… the demons, Nyarlathotep, Ren’s corruption… it had all been because she was selfish and chose to reach out to the Phantom Thieves.

She really was selfish… if she hadn’t pushed those kids to awakening their powers in the real world- if she had just left them alone and let them live their lives, then none of this would have happened. Her fingers tensed, her eyes fixated on the ground. She couldn’t even glance over at Ren, guilt holding her down. “I… I’m so sorry…”

** _YOU REALIZE THE SIN YOU HAVE COMMITED. THAT IS CAUSE FOR FORGIVENESS. I WILL GRANT YOU YOUR PEACEFUL WORLD, A WORLD WHERE YOU MAY PURSUE YOUR GOALS WITHOUT THE PENDULUM OF OTHERWORLDLY POWER SWINGING OVER YOUR HEAD._ **

Maya didn’t reply. Ren was next.

** _AMAMIYA REN. THE MESSIAH OF FREEDOM. _ **

“...Here.” Ren said, simply.

** _YOUR SOUL IS CONFLICTED. YOU DESIRE FREEDOM, AND YET YOU FIND YOURSELF TUGGED BY FATE AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY. YOU HAVE EVEN CONSIDERED THE OFFER OF THE DEMON LORD LUCIFER, DESPITE ONLY BECOMING A PUPPET TO HIM IF YOU FOLLOW BEHIND._ **

Ren grit his teeth. As much as he really hated to admit it, the god had a point. He had barely felt in control during this entire ordeal, and while fighting against Yaldabaoth during the winter had been liberating, in a sense, he had just found himself going through the same motions over and over again. There was no guarantee that Lucifer was telling the truth either- that if he chose to fight back then things would be better. If anything, he may just end up making things worse.

** _I CAN GIVE YOU THE FREEDOM YOU DESIRE. A WAY OF LIVING WHERE THE LABELS THAT WERE UNJUSTLY FORCED UPON YOU ARE WORTHLESS._ **

A world where he wouldn’t be judged… where he wouldn’t be looked at like some criminal, like he was one of the dregs of society... that did sound like a perfect world.

** _A WORLD WHERE THOSE WHO WERE LOST ARE RETURNED. IS THAT NOT WHAT YOU DESIRE?_ **

“Futaba’s mom…? Haru’s dad…? Akechi…?” That seemed similar to the world that Maruki had given him and his friends. But… that couldn’t be right. He had fought so hard for a world where he and his friends could thrive, despite their hardships. But… he didn’t feel strong enough to resist. Maruki was human. Someone Ren could talk to and relate to. Maruki realized he wasn’t a god, and his ‘perfect world’ had flaws and contradictions… human mistakes. But this was a god. This was their ‘God’. What right did Ren have to assume that Gaia would make the same mistakes Maruki did.

** _AIGIS. THE MESSIAH OF GROWTH. _ **

Aigis closed her eyes. “I know what I desire. You wish to give me a world where ‘he’ lives, correct? I refuse to speak on the matter until I hear what you are offering Makoto, if I may be so bold.

** _...VERY WELL. YUUKI MAKOTO. THE MESSIAH OF ACCEPTANCE..._ **

Makoto closed his eyes. “I don’t care. I’m dead. My choice of the world doesn’t mean anything. I shouldn’t have a say in this.”

** _THEN I SHALL MOVE ON. THE ANOMALY._ **

Tatsuya scowled.

** _SUOU TATSUYA. THE MESSIAH OF VAGRANCY._ **

“...How flattering.” He grumbled.

** _YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN GIVEN A SECOND CHANCE AT LIFE. THE SUOU TATSUYA OF THE CURRENT WORLD IS AT PEACE. YOUR DESIRES ARE MEANINGLESS, BUT THE ONE KINDNESS I CAN GIVE YOU IS TO PUT YOUR ROAMING SOUL AT REST._ **

It took a great deal of strength for Tatsuya to pull out his lighter and flick it open and shut. The oppressive gaze of the god bore into him, his eyes shaded by heavy locks of hair. “...As long as Big Sis gets to live happily, I’ll be okay.”

** _THEN IT IS SETTLED. A NEW WORLD WHERE YOU ALL TRULY LIVE FREELY A WORLD WITHOUT THE TENUOUS POWER OF PERSONA. A WORLD WITHOUT THE DANGEROUS CLAWS OF SHADOWS. A TRUE WORLD OF PEACEFULNESS.._ **

Yu sighed. “...This… this was the right choice, right?”

“Implying we had a choice.” Aigis said, quietly. “Realistically, we would be dead the second we attempted to rebel.”

Ren forced a small smile. “I’ve never gauged my chances on how ‘realistic’ they were… but if this is a chance to make everyone happy…”

Tatsuya slowly forced himself to his feet. “...We’re forgetting something.”

Naoya closed his eyes. “...What could we possibly be forgetting…?”

Maya’s eyes widened. “We made a promise… do you think we’ll be able to…”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Makoto said, his tone cold and empty. “The new world is coming into fruition.”

Their vision was filled with a blinding white light, as the world around them began to shift and change.

* * *

* * *

** _A NEW WORLD OF PEACE HAS BEEN BORN..._ **

* * *

* * *

**Tokyo, Japan. March 20th, 2017.**

“Well, here we are, kid.” Sojiro said, letting a tall, dark haired boy out of his car in front of the train station. “Sorry Futaba and Wakaba couldn’t make it. She gets all teary at goodbyes and said it would be ‘embarrassing’.”

The boy frowned. “Futaba-chan or Isshiki-san?”

“Both.” Sojiro replied bluntly. “..But you know your way around the station, right? Or do you need me to hold your hand?”

The boy shrugged with a wry smirk. “I think I’ve got it. Thank you for your hospitality, Sakura-san. Tell Futaba-chan that the next time I come back, I’ll finally beat her in Super Bash Brothers.” He bowed slightly, as the car drove off.

The boy was seventeen years old. Tall and quiet with unruly dark hair, and a bit of a mysterious nature. He was sent to Tokyo for the year due to his parents getting too busy with business, and set to spend his second year of high school with Sakura Sojiro. The year was uneventful. Peaceful. He got along decently well with his classmates, didn’t stir too much trouble, and essentially left the same way he had arrived. Sure, he hadn’t exactly made any friends, but he was only going to be here for about a year. It wasn’t like he could have done anything really meaningful. He pulled out his phone, checking the time. He was still a couple minutes early. Probably enough time for him to grab something to eat before boarding the train.

“Kurusu-kun!” A voice called out to him. 

This boy’s name was also Kurusu Akira.

Akira looked to the side, watching as a blonde girl ran toward him- with another girl and a vulgar looking boy and tow. 

“...Takamaki-san? Suzui-san? And, um, Sakamoto-san, right?” Akira asked, as the three other teenagers caught up to him. Takamaki Ann nodded at him. 

“Right!” She folded her arms, pouting. “Jeez, why didn’t you tell me you were leaving, Kurusu-kun? I had to find out from Kawakami-sensei!”

Suzui Shiho gently patted Ann’s shoulder. “I’m sure Kurusu-kun didn’t mean any offense, Ann.” Shiho smiled nervously at Akira. “She was so upset when she found out you were leaving without telling anyone.”

Sakamoto Ryuji chuckled. “So that’s why you were so freaked out. I just tagged along because I wanted to see what the fuss was about.” He nodded at Akira. “We never really talked much, but I’m sure you’ve seen me at more than a few track meets. Who knows- if that scholarship goes through, you might even be seein’ me on T.V!”

Ann lightly shoved Ryuji. “We’re not here to talk about you, Ryuji! We’re here to say goodbye to Kurusu-kun! Look! He’s all by himself!”

Akira nervously scratched the back of his head. “It’s fine… my guardian already dropped me off. Besides, I don’t have a whole lot of time to chat.” He slid his phone back into his pocket. “It was nice of you to come by though.” He really wasn’t expecting much. He and Takamaki had only really shared a homeroom class and a few brief conversations- excluding the times where he had helped give her answers if her attention started to slip in class. Suzui just happened to be around some of the times he talked with Takamaki, and Sakamoto… well, he was pretty sure they had gotten lost getting to school together one day, but not much happened after that.

“Wait, Kurusu-kun!” Ann blurted out. “At least give me your chat I.D? So we can text, and you can let me know when you’re coming back to Tokyo! Then I can show you all the hot spots!”

“The only ‘hot spots’ you know in Tokyo are sweet shops…” Ryuji muttered.

“And apparel stores…” Shiho added.

Ann bit her lip. “Y-yeah? So what?! Anyways, come on- gimme your chat I.D! Oh, do you have a Picstagram account? I’d love to see some pics of the countryside!”

Akira rolled his eyes, pulling out his phone and handing it over to Ann. “Here. I’ll be sure to let you all know when I come back.”

Ann excitedly took the phone, entering her number before handing it back. “Great! Well… I guess you have to get going now, right Kurusu-kun?”

Akira nodded, putting away his phone and sliding his hands in his pockets. 

“Have a safe trip, dude.” Ryuji said, nonchalantly. 

“If you have a bit of time before your train leaves, there’s a nice little cafe in the station.” Shiho explained. “It’s fast too, so you won’t be waiting too long.”

Akira nodded, slowly turning around before a dark shape darted past him. He stumbled back, looking to the side to see a black cat roaming around. “Jeez!” He yelled. “God, again?”

“Again?” Ann asked.

“I feel like I keep seeing that cat everywhere…” He mumbled. From the start of the year it had just been hanging around- but it never let Akira get too close. It was bizarre. 

“You should name it.” Ryuji said with a smirk. “How about Fuzzball? Dipshit? Catscratch?”

“How about François?” Ann offered. “Everything sounds better in French.”

Akira shrugged. “Nah, I probably won’t see it again.” He started walking off, giving the group a calm wave. “Either way, I’ve gotta get going. See you.”

The three other teenagers waved as Akira walked off, heading deeper into the station. He kept walking, looking around every so often before bumping into someone. The two stumbled backwards as Akira rubbed his head, before looking at the person he had collided with.

A boy around Akira’s age, with shaggy brown hair and piercing eyes. Akira blinked. “Wait… have I seen you on T.V before? You’re that Detectiv--”

The boy shook his head. “Let’s not. I’d rather not get swarmed by my adoring public.” He smoothed out his jacket, before putting one finger to his lips. “You can keep quiet, right? Now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got to get going. Apparently I’ve been called in to some big case.” He gave Akira a polite smile and a blasé wave before walking off.

Akira continued forward, before reaching the train platform. 

One unassuming year had passed. Just like every other.

* * *

**Yasoinaba Station. April 11th, 2017.**

Seta Souji hadn’t been to Inaba in years. He stepped out onto the platform that lead out of Yasoinaba Station, lightly brushing back silver hair as he stared into the bright and open country sky. It had been years since he had come out here… and he really wasn’t sure why he came back. Outside of family being here, Inaba was famously infamous for having absolutely nothing going for it. He looked around, before two people approached him.

“Oh, Uncle. Nanako-chan. You two are a bit early.” Souji said, 

Dojima shrugged. “Well, it’s not too often you come and visit. I know you’re used to the big city and all of that, but it would be nice to get at a call more often than ‘yearly’.” He smiled, although there was a hint of irritation in the man’s voice. “Anyways, hop on in. Chisato is preparing something big for you.” 

Souji looked at the girl standing behind Dojima. Nanako stared at him warily, as Dojima chuckled.

“Come on, Nanako. You remember your big cousin, right? He came here a couple years ago.”

As true as that was, it wasn’t like he and Nanako talked much. There wasn’t exactly a whole lot one could discuss with a seven-year old. Souji shrugged, picking up his bags. “I hope I’m not intruding, Uncle. I just had some time off and I wanted to visit for a bit.”

Dojima laughed. “As unbelievable as that is, considering this is out in the boonies, I’ll take it. C’mon. Let’s get rolling.” He opened up the car, letting Souji hop in the side seat and Nanako climb in the back, before they started driving. 

Inaba seemed… quieter than usual. “Junes basically ran out the shopping district.” Dojima said, picking up on Souji’s curiosity. “Some places with ‘historical value’ like the Amagi Inn are still around, and Marukyu Tofu is being held up with some support of the owner’s granddaughter, but outside of that… nada. The metalworks shop? Gone. Even Shiroku is barely hanging on. Everyone just goes there because of the after-hours pub.” He looked out the rear-view window, before glancing toward the sky. “It’s a nice day out though. No fog. There hasn’t been any thick fog in years, now that I think about it.”

They passed by the Junes Store. Souji glanced out the window, squinting. “...Where’s the mascot?” He asked. 

Dojima raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think they have one. I dunno- Nanako is the expert on all things Junes. She’s got a part-time job there now.” Dojima glanced back at a moment towards his daughter. “They got a mascot, Nanako?”

Nanako shook her head. “...No. There isn’t a mascot at Junes.”

Souji could have sworn there was a mascot. Like a bear or something. “...Huh. Maybe it was my imagination.” He scratched his chin, before shrugging. “Maybe you could design a mascot for them, Nanako-chan.” He suggested. “You like to draw, right?”

Nanako gave a non-committal shrug, before the rest of the car ride fell into awkward silence.

Souji slowly remembered why he didn’t Inaba much. 

It was nothing but a boring, peaceful, sleepy town.

* * *

**Tatsumi Port Island. April 7th, 2017.**

Tatsumi Port Island. Arisato Minato slid in hands in his pockets as he approached his old Alma Mater. Gekkoukan High. It was odd. He couldn’t really recall the reason he went to this school in the first place. But apparently they were having a reunion, and considering he had nothing else to do, it seemed like a decent way to burn his time.

“Arisato-san, is that you?” A voice called out to him. He turned around to face Takeba Yukari. Apparently she was some big-deal actress. He didn’t really care one way or the other, but it was kind of cool. He gave her a tired wave, before facing back toward the school.

“Yo, Takeba-san. How are things?” He asked, deciding to do the bare minimum when it came to social convention.

She stretched, walking next to him. “Aah, fine. I’m just lucky I’ve gotten some time off. Man, it’s been years, Arisato-san. Are you excited to see everyone again?”

Clearly Takeba wanted to do more than the bare minimum of social convention. What a pain. “...Uh, I guess. Who was it? Kenji? Junpei? Uh…”

Yukari frowned. “Did you forget our senpai? Kirijo-senpai is coming back just to do a speech! You know she’s the head of one of the biggest groups in Japan, right? It’s like, a really big deal!”

“Eh.”

“My god, Arisato-san. You were always a man of few words, but sometimes it’s hard to imagine you have a working brain up there too. Do you always just kind of… drift around?”

“Eh.”

He shrugged. She seemed… less than happy with that answer. Truth was, Minato didn’t know what to feel. Something felt off- and he hadn’t felt this way before. But the closer they got to Gekkoukan, the more he felt like he was forgetting something. His phone buzzed, as he slowly pulled it out, staring at the number. 

Yukari looked over. “Who is it?”

His mother. His mother was calling him. It shouldn’t be abnormal. He talked to his mother yesterday, and a few days before that… he and his parents had a decent rapport going on, which was more than what he could say when it came to his relationship with anyone else.

...And yet that seemed so unnervingly wrong in a way he couldn’t truly place. He rejected the call immediately, putting the phone away. 

“Uh, something wrong, Arisato-san?” Yukari asked.

“Sorry. Not in the mood to talk with ghosts.” He said, cryptically, before turning around and walking away from the school.

* * *

**Sumaru City. June 24th, 2017.**

“Go~od morning, Sumaru! Your best friend and ace reporter Amano Maaya here on the scene!” A cheerful woman called out while spinning a microphone, standing in front of a police station. “I’m here with my absolutely wonderful camerawoman Mayuzumi Yukki! Say ‘hi’, Yukki-cha~an!”

The camera woman winced, pulling her beanie over her eyes slightly. “You know I’m supposed to keep it focused on you, Maaya-san… come on. Just because this isn’t a live story doesn’t mean you can goof off! Please don’t make any more trouble for me!” She whispered.

Maaya chuckled. “Looks like Yukki-chan is shy, but luckily for her, she’s not the focus of this very, very special broadcast. We’re going to be interviewing one of Sumaru’s finest- Suo Tatsuya! Let’s go inside!” She motioned for the camera to follow her, bursting inside the police station. A few of the people inside jolted at the sudden motion, before a man with red shades approached them. 

“Uh… Amano-san… I know the station told us you were coming, but could you be a bit quieter?”

Maaya gasped. “It’s the big-shot policeman himself, Suo Katsuya-san! We’re here to talk to your younger brother- any idea where he could be?”

Katsuya pinched his brow. “...She’s not listening to me at all…”

Yukki shrugged. “She’s like that, Suo-san. Sorry… it’s a miracle that she’s still on the air, but apparently she’s got ‘appeal’.”

“Fine. I’ll get Tatsuya… just, hang on one moment, please.” He turned around, walking off. Katsuya mumbled as Maaya giggled. 

“Don’t you think he’s cute, Yukki? His brother too! Isn’t it great to have our wonderful city protected by two of the most handsome men on the planet?”

Yukki frowned. “You know, why don’t you ask one of them out? You’ve got the looks and the charm. All you have to do is make sure you don’t have the handwriting and the humor of a grade schooler, and you’d be set.”

Maaya pouted. “Don’t be mean, Yukki! And what do you mean ‘it’s a miracle I’m still on-air’? I get the cold, hard facts! I give the people what they want?”

“Yeah, after about three hours of warm, useless fluff around it.”

“People want to see warm fluff! The news can’t be depressing all the time, Yukki!”

Before their conversation could escalate, a man with shoulder length brown hair approached them, awkwardly flexing his fingers. “Um… you’re Amano-san, right? The reporter? I’m Suo Tatsuya. My big brother told me you needed me.”

Maaya nodded. “You’re becoming a little bit famous! Outside of being an outstanding member of our community- you’re also the first, openly LGBT officer in the city! How does that feel?”

Tatsuya folded his arms. “...I mean… normal? I feel the same as before. Just because I’m marrying a man doesn’t mean it’s some big thing. Not for me, at least.”

“Amazing, Suo-san!” Maaya exclaimed. “Now, for viewers at home, Suo Tatsuya is one of the most effective officers in Sumaru! I’d even dare to say Japan! He keeps this city squeaky-clean, so that you and I don’t have to put padlocks on our purses- although I’m sure a safe-purse would be an incredibly fun fashion statement! I digress, I heard that you beat up some Nazi’s. Is that true, Suo-san? Are you a Nazi-kicking bad boy?” She practically shoved the microphone in Tatsuya’s face.

Tatsuya blushed slightly. “I… I mean, they weren’t Nazi’s, and I didn’t beat them up. They were just people who thought it would be funny to spray paint less-than-appropriate symbols around our city. Once I showed up and brought them to the station, they seemed to straighten themselves out pretty quickly.”

Maaya grinned. “Look at that! Suo-san showed the youth of today proper behavior. Just for posterity though, if there were Nazi’s in Sumaru…”

“I would absolutely beat them up.” Tatsuya said. 

“Of course, of course! And, for the people who may be uncomfortable with having an LGBT police officer on the force…?”

“Fuck ‘em. I’m not here for them to be ‘comfortable’ with my orientation. I’m here to do my job and protect this city the best way I can.” He paused. “...Am I allowed to curse on here?”

“This is the morning news, so I wouldn’t suggest it, Tacchan!” Maaya said, before pausing.

“...’Tacchan’...?” Yukki and Tatsuya questioned in unison. Maya frowned. Why did she say that? She hadn’t really met Tatsuya in person before… She had just read articles, did interviews with people he helped and saw photos. So… why did she feel so comfortable around him? 

“Ahaa… my apologies, Suo-san. Guess I got caught up in reporting. It happens. But, this is a good way to wrap up. A hero, in more ways than one, Sumaru’s one and only Suo Tatsuya! Keeping the streets safe and peaceful for everyone. But of course, this concludes our special interview! So remember, take one step after the next, don’t forget to smile, and everyone…!”

She pointed towards the camera, beaming.

“Let’s positive thinking!”

* * *

**Mikage Hospital. September 20th, 2017.**

A man with dark, wild hair and a hoop earring approached the main desk of the hospital, a bouquet of flowers in his hands. He cleared his throat. “Um, it’s Narumi Yuuya. I’m here to see…”

“Sonomura Maki, correct?” The receptionist said with a warm smile. “Narumi-san, if there’s one thing you are, it’s consistent. She’s in the same room as always…” The receptionist trailed off, before whispering. “The doctors are saying that Sonomura’s mental state has been… fluctuating lately. She might not be the clearest of minds when you go to meet her. Just… keep that in mind, okay?”

Narumi nodded, before heading up to the third floor of Mikage Cho’s hospital. Each step was tentative, slowing down slightly as he reached her hospital door and slowly opened it, leading into her room. The walls were adorned with paintings that Maki had made. Each one surreal and brilliant in a variety of different ways, but… as time passed, the colors became more dull, and the lines became more murky. The result of a weak yet steady hand losing its touch, the result of caring yet strained eyes losing their focus. The only noise was the faint, rhythmic beeping of Maki’s heart monitor. He looked over at the hospital bed by the window, looking at the form laying on it. 

A woman in her thirties, although it was hard to tell just by how thin and small she seemed in the hospital bed. Her long brown hair was matted and unruly, and her skin was deathly pale. Her brown eyes seemed muddled and clouded, surrounded by dark, tired circles. Her lips were cracked and chapped, although they seemed to be curled up into a small smile as she slowly turned to face Narumi. 

“You’re… here… Nao…ya...” Her brow furrowed as she spoke. Each word seemed painful. But… Maki had always been like this. He had found out about her from his classmates, and they had taken the time to visit her as much as possible. Still, no matter how much they prayed for her to get better, or whatever methods the doctors tried, she always seemed to be ill. Even Nanjo had put resources towards studying Maki’s condition, but to no avail. 

“It’s Yuuya, Maki-san. How have you been?”

Her small smile curled into a frown. “That’s not… your name…” She whispered. “Or… maybe it is…? I don’t…”

That was probably what the receptionist was talking about. It was a bit disheartening that she was having trouble remembering his name, but at the same time, there was no reason for him to be upset about it. Maki couldn’t control her condition, after all. He walked closer to the bed, kneeling down in front of it. He held out the flowers. “These are for you. Do you like them?”

Thin, weak fingers reached out, gently tracing over the bouquet. “They’re… pretty… Masao… brought me some… too… Brown too… Ayase… and… and...” Her tired eyes traced over to the windowsill, where a few more bouquets rested. Narumi chuckled. He had to remember that he was far from the only person in his former class that cared about Maki. He got up, putting the flowers with the rest, glancing over the other bouquets. Brown. Ayase. Mark. Nanjo. Elly. Yukino. Everyone had left her some sort of gift. Brown, Yukino, and Mark’s bouquets were a lot more modest, while Ayase’s was more vibrant and colorful. Nanjo and Elly seemed to go over the top, with a vast variety of flowers that he could only assume were both expensive and exotic.

“They left you a lot of nice gifts, didn’t they, Maki?” Narumi asked.

“I… wish they didn’t…” Maki whispered. “...I’m… cruel… making you think of me… all the time…”

Narumi blinked, turning around to face her. Her pale cheeks were growing wet with tears as she stared past him, out the window. “I’m a… burden…”

“No, not a chance!” Narumi said, taking her hand quickly. It felt like paper, her grip was incredibly weak, and he felt like he could just shatter her with the flex of a finger. “M-Maki, have you painted anything new, recently?”

Maki sniffed, before slowly pointing towards an easel by her bed. He stared at the painting resting on it in awe. It was a vibrant blue butterfly, flying across a background that seemed like outer space. It was simple, and yet seemed to be drawing Narumi in. As if these were images he had seen before. Maki’s paintings were surreal, but they were usually based on something she could see. An image in her room. Some distant object outside her hospital window. That’s why he and the others brought her so many things- so that she could paint more and more. But… there was nothing around to inspire something like this.

“Each… star… a glittering… consciousness…” She whispered. 

Narumi just nodded, her grip firm in his. “...What inspired you to make this one…?” He asked, quietly.

“I’ve… felt like… I’ve been… forgetting…” She rasped. “I’ve been holding on… so I can remember… and I do... “ Her eyelids began to flutter, before slowly lowering. “I… remember… I forgot… so much… what you all did for me… how you saved me… now I can let go...”

“Let go?” Narumi blinked. “What we... did for you? How I saved you? Maki, I don’t…”

She turned to face him, slowly, as if it took a great deal of energy just to roll to her side enough to look him in the eye. “...Please think about me every once and a while… and try to remember…” She closed her eyes, her breathing beginning to slow. “I love… you… Naoya...” She trailed off, her breathing slowly losing it’s rhythm, before crawling to a halt. The heart rate monitor showed nothing but a flat line, a sharp, empty beep piercing Narumi’s ears.

“Maki…?” He whispered. He swallowed hard, tears prickling at the corner of his eyes. “Maki, please…! Maki! Maki…!” He repeated, her hand still interlocked with his as he broke down into sobs, his vision blurring as he began to cry. She looked so…

Peaceful.

His sobs broke into a mixture of bitter cries and angered, desperate laugher. “Maki… I’m so sorry…” He whispered. He wished he didn’t remember what he was apologizing for. That he was ignorant, and only upset about what he had lost now instead of what he had given up. He felt powerless. He was powerless. He yelled until his voice was hoarse, apologizing for what he had done- begging for whatever God was out there to bring her back. 

But nobody listened.

For this was the world they had chosen.

**PEACEFUL WORLD  
[END](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0_eGlrDt6Y)**


	36. Rejecting the Future (REBELLION ENDING)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaia's ideals are rejected.

** _WHAT GOOD IS THERE TO RESIST?_ **

** _TO INSIST THAT YOU KNOW MORE THAN YOUR OWN GOD?_ **

** _I HAVE OBSERVED YOU HUMANS FOR MILLENNIA, UPON THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES. AND TO THIS, I MAKE AN OFFER.._ **

** _YOUR WORLD HAS BEEN FILLED WITH NOTHING BUT PAIN AND AGONY. STRUGGLE AFTER STRUGGLE. AS A REWARD FOR YOUR EFFORTS, I CAN GRANT YOU A NEW WORLD. A PEACEFUL WORLD, WHERE NONE ARE HARMED._ **

** _WHAT GOOD IS THERE TO SAY NO? HOW CONTRADICTORY IT WOULD BE FOR YOU TO FIGHT FOR PEACE, AND THEN ABANDON YOUR CHANCE AT IT?_ **

What good was there to resist? They had made it this far, lost too much, and jumped through too many arbitrary hoops for them to be told that resistance was useless. Still, Gaia’s very being was oppressive. Fighting back seemed like a ridiculous option, but… what else were they supposed to do? They had fought their way here, destroyed powerful demons and beings that had called themselves ‘gods’ in the past. 

Sure, this one was ‘stronger’, but ‘strong’ didn’t mean impossible, did it? Tatsuya slowly wobbled to his feet, the faint outline of his Persona behind him, giving him the strength to stand in the face of something so powerful. The others looked at him- first with shock, and then with a newfound sense of determination. They all began to rise to their feet, their legs shaking, sweat streaking down their foreheads and limbs as if the pressure of just standing in the face of such a being was exhausting enough. But there was nowhere to go but to stand. To rise.

** _WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?_ **

“Whatever offer you’re about to give us… we don’t care…” Tatsuya hissed. He pointed at Gaia, his eyes squinting as he struggled to even keep his focus on the massive being. “A new world? A new world where what happens? A world where we conveniently forget whatever happened to us? Been there, done that. It didn’t work.” 

Maya folded her arms. “A world like that… won’t it only cause more pain for everyone? That empty feeling of something being wrong… I don’t want to go through that again.”

Ren’s eyes narrowed. “Lucifer and Lilith said that you would try to make us an offer. Are our lives really that inconsequential to you that you can just up and replace us with ‘better selves’ whenever you feel like it?” That wasn’t right. To consider humans as such lesser beings that they could just be replaced over and over again?

** _SO YOU CHOSE TO LISTEN TO A DEMON INSTEAD OF YOUR GOD? THAT IS BLASPHEMY. ARROGANCE AT ITS HIGHEST POINT._ **

“Blasphemy?” Yu asked. “Not a chance. A world without a god like you looming over us… that must be the truth we have to strive for!” He summoned his Persona, the form of Izanagi-no-Okami shooting into the air and swinging its blade. It scratched across Gaia’s face, causing the massive god to roar in pain as it reared backward. Yu’s Persona looped around, fading back behind Yu’s form as they prepared themselves to fight. Their bodies felt heavy, as if the weight of the world was on their shoulders- but they had to do this.

** _...I SEE. I HAVE BEEN A KIND AND FORGIVING GOD, AND YET YOU REBEL LIKE UNGRATEFUL CHILDREN. I SHOULD HAVE EXPECTED YOU TO BE A PACK OF SINNERS._ **

“Ungrateful…! What the hell have you given us to be grateful for?” Ren yelled, Raoul forming behind him and letting out a massive wave of cursed energy. The blast slammed into Gaia, leaving no sort of visible mark, before the sun-like eyes of the God radiated two beams that seared towards Ren. He rolled out of the way before Naoya rushed forward, summoning the brilliant form of Amon-Ra.

** _TOUDOU NAOYA… SINNER OF APATHY...._ **

Naoya was stopped mid-run, being constricted by what seemed like invisible vines. He struggled the move, his Persona trapped in a similar situation. The two forms writhed and grimaced as he tried to continue forth, the judgemental eyes of Gaia boring into him

** _YOUR LIFE IS NOTHING BUT AIMLESS DISAPPOINTMENT. YOUR MOST SUCCESS CAME TO YOU IN YOUR HIGH SCHOOL YEARS, AND EVER SINCE THEN YOU’VE BEEN BLINDLY TRYING TO FIND SOMETHING THAT EQUIVOCATES THAT HIGH._ **

Naoya grimaced. That… that couldn’t be true. He wasn’t some old man, desperately vying for a recreation of his ‘glory days’. But… at the same time, he hadn’t even thought twice when it came to fighting demons again. He had jumped at the chance, even. “No… you don’t know me!” He roared, his body tensing and flexing as Amon-Ra mustered enough power to swing its staff, the air around him bursting into violent flames as he regained control of his body and leapt towards Gaia. “Amon-Ra! Hieroglyphi--”

** _I HAVE GIVEN YOU POWER. I SHALL TAKE IT AWAY..._ **

He suddenly froze in mid-air, his eyes twitching as he watched his Persona shudder in front of him. Amon-Ra’s head slowly turned to face Naoya, before the Persona shattered into pieces. Naoya screamed, regaining movement only to collapse on the ground and grip his head, yelling in pain. 

“Toudou-san!” Yu yelled, running next to him. He looked up at Gaia, grimacing. “You… I can’t let you get away with this! Izanagi-no-Okami!” Yu yelled, his body exploding in a massive burst of blue mist as he leaped toward Gaia, his Persona in tow.

** _NARUKAMI YU… THE SINNER OF FALSEHOODS..._ **

Gaia shot a few beams of light towards Yu, the silver-haired man dodging them with poise and grace. He continued to approach the god, his eyes narrowed and fierce as he prepared his next attack.

** _YOU CLAIM TO SEARCH FOR THE ‘TRUTH’, BUT ONLY ACCEPT IT IF IT FITS YOUR OWN NARRATIVE. THe WORLD IS FILLED WITH THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT TRUTHS. ARE YOU TRULY SO ARROGANT TO BELIEVE THAT THE TRUTH YOU BELIEVE IN IS THE ONLY TRUTH OUT THERE?_ **

Yu grit his teeth. As if this thing had the nerve to lecture him on the nature of ‘truth’. He had given up so much, fought so hard, built so many friendships in order to find out the ‘truth’- and he wasn’t just going to let his efforts be invalidated because ‘God said so’. He threw his hands forward, Izanagi-no-Okami doing the same as his Persona slowly began to spin its double-sided blade. “Now, Izanagi! Myriad Truths!” He yelled, as his Persona shot off an impressive wave of almighty energy that slammed into Gaia. The massive god was pushed back slightly, the slightest ripple going through the waves that formed its robes, before it uttered an echoing, disappointed sigh.

** _YOU DO NOT LISTEN… YOUR TRUTH IS MEANINGLESS. YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN POWER TO FIND TRUTH. NOW THAT I SEE YOUR TRUTH IS CORRUPT, I SHALL TAKE IT AWAY..._ **

“Corrupt--?!” Yu yelled, exasperated. Before he could say anything else, he watched as his Persona exploded into bright light. His mind seemed to blank for a moment, before being filled with a searing, excruciating heat as he collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony. Without skipping a beat, Maya summoned Artemis Prime, firing off arrows of light towards the god.

** _AMANO MAYA… BEARER OF THE SIN OF IGNORANCE..._ **

“I’m! Not! Ignorant!” Maya yelled, continuing to fire arrows before realizing they were doing nothing. She looked over at Naoya and Yu, approaching the two men and clasping her hands together as her Persona desperately tried to heal them under the oppressive gaze of Gaia.

** _I AM TRULY SADDENED BY YOUR REBELLION. BUT YOUR MEMORIES AND IDEALS HAVE LEAD YOU ASTRAY BEFORE. WHEN THE NEW WORLD COMES, I PRAY THAT YOUR EQUIVALENT WILL BE MORE OBEDIENT AND GRATEFUL FOR WHAT I’VE DONE..._ **

“...So you really were planning on replacing us from the jump, huh?” Maya whispered, disappointed. “Gaia-sama. You don’t have to go into all of my sins. All of my mistakes. I know that I’ve made them, but I also can’t just let you abandon this world- and if reaching that truth means that I have to fight, then--!”

** _ALWAYS SO QUICK TO PREACH. TWO TIMELINES YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN POWER. TWO TIMELINES YOU HAVE FAILED. YOU DESERVE YOUR STRENGTH NO LONGER._ **

In an instant, Artemis Prime faded into mist and Maya fell limp onto the ground. Her eyes twitched, tears began to trickle from them as a dull, cold numbness filled her brain. She struggled to get up, but even moving her body seemed like an impossible task. She heard Ren screaming, watching as he darted past her and summoned the demonic, intimidating form of his Persona.

** _AMAMIYA REN. THE ARROGANT SINNER OF IRRESPONSIBILITY._ **

“Shut up!” Ren yelled, Raoul flying towards Gaia with an intense, echoing scream. Claws raked against Gaia’s face, leaving the first true mark. Ren smirked, rolling to the side and jumping upward, Raoul looping behind him and firing off a myriad of cursed flames.

** _THE VOICE OF THE NEW GENERATION. YOU CLAIM TO STRIVE FOR FREEDOM, BUT THE PHANTOM THIEVES ONLY ACT FOR THEMSELVES. IN YOUR SELFISHNESS YOU HAVE UNWITTINGLY ENTANGLED AND OPPRESSED THE MINDS OF MANY. FOR THAT YOU SHALL BE PUNISHED._ **

Ren knew that the methods of the Phantom Thieves weren’t perfect. That’s why they were willing to give up their powers and destroy Mementos. That’s why they were so willing to fight against the God of Control. This ‘God’ was just spouting off nonsense in order to make their willpower waver and force them to submit. He continued to dart around the beams and attacks that Gaia threw at the Persona-users. “Come on, Raoul!” He yelled.

** _SUCH POWER SHALL NOT BE GIVEN TO IRRESPONSIBLE YOUTHS._ **

Raoul’s forward movement seemed to stop, the Persons thrashing and desperately trying to escape from Gaia’s clutches. It glanced back towards Ren, grimacing before using its wings to cocoon itself, the Persona bursting into thousands of glittering shards. Ren was thrown backwards, bouncing and skidding against the ground before being caught by Aigis. Several of her weapons became active, firing on Gaia as Makoto shot into the air, Orpheus Telos sending wave after wave of almighty energy towards the god.

** _THE ARTIFICIAL MESSIAH OF ‘GROWTH’ AND THE FAILED SINNER OF DENIAL._ **

The two former members of S.E.E.S continued their assault, Aigis summoning her Persona for short, sparse attacks, while Makoto continued to go full-force with a myriad of fusion spells and heavy attacks. Both of them were beginning to understand the game. Aigis wasn’t keen on leaving her Persona open to be destroyed, and Makoto was confident enough in his own strength that he thought he could resist whatever Gaia could dish out.

They were both wrong.

** _TO WASTE TIME ON YOU SINNERS WOULD BE REDUNDANT. YUUKI MAKOTO, YOU HAVE LEFT YOUR PLACE IN DEATH AND DARE TO TRY AND ASSERT YOUR WILL UPON THE WORLD OF THE LIVING? AND AIGIS, YOU HARDLY HAVE A LIFE TO BEGIN WITH. THE TWO OF YOU ARE WORTHLESS IN THE EYES OF THE POWERS ON HIGH. BEGONE._ **

With one smooth flick of Gaia’s wrist, Aigis dropped down to her knees, sparks spewing from her body as the faint form of Orpheus was ripped from her body before being torn to shreds. Makoto plummeted towards the ground, countless Personas being torn from his body as he slammed into the flat, reflective floor of Gaia’s realm. He grit his teeth, before looking over at Aigis.

“The mission… seems to be a failure…” She said. “We shouldn’t have fought… I am sorry… Makoto…”

Makoto shook his head, although he was in clear pain. “We’re fighting for what we believe in. We’re fighting for freedom from this dickhead. Win or lose, do we really have any regrets…?”

Tatsuya walked past both of them. “...Sit back, you two. I can handle this. Apollo Prime!” He summoned his Persona in an explosion of energy. “Apollo Prime! Split!” He crossed his arms as his Persona split into three- the forms of Rhadamanthus, Eros, and Hermes. They all flew towards Gaia, attacking from multiple angles. The god seemed to be struggling with the new assault, as Tatsuya narrowed his eyes, the flow of time coming to a screeching halt. 

He began to approach the god in the world of stopped time, raising one arm as a flaming sword formed into his hands. “I’ll cut you down. I’ll cut you down, and free everyone. I’m doing this for--”

** _YOU DARE SPEAK FALSEHOODS IN THE REALM OF A GOD?_ **

Tatsuya’s eyes widened as Gaia’s head turned to face him. In general, ‘stopping time’ was a fairly clear concept. But this… monster was above such concepts.

** _YOU ARE A DISGRACE. A WOLF IN THE CLOTHES OF A LOST LAMB. WITHOUT THE ARROGANT MISTAKES OF YOU HUMANS IN THE YEAR 1999, THESE EVENTS WOULD NEVER BE SPRUNG INTO MOTION. THE TIMELINE WOULD BE WHOLE. THE MEMORIES OF YOU AND YOUR COUNTERPART WOULDN’T BE SO VOLATILE.”_ **

Tatsuya grimaced. “What happened then… that was your fault, not mine!” He yelled, as his grip on time slipped and the world continued as normal. Not as if it made any difference.

** _SO QUICK TO BLAME OTHERS. WHEN THIS IS OVER, I SHALL GIVE YOU WHAT YOU DESIRE. LIFE UPON LIFE. REINCARNATION UPON REINCARNATION. YOU SHALL LIVE FOREVER, ONLY TO SUFFER._ **

Gaia snapped their fingers, as the split Personas that had been born from Apollo Prime converged, before blinking into nothingness. Tatsuya could only stare in horror as it seemed like all seven of the Persona-users were yanked off the ground, being forced to dangle in front of Gaia like a bunch of captured rats. Tatsuya grimaced, as Gaia stared at them with a look of parental admonishment.

** _YOU CLAIM YOU WANT THE BEST FOR YOUR WORLD. THAT YOU’RE FIGHTING FOR ‘WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN’... BUT WHAT IS IT THAT YOU BELIEVE IN?_ **

** _A WORLD WITHOUT GOD IS IMPOSSIBLE. WISHING FOR ME TO INTERFERE LESS IS ONE THING, BUT EACH WORLD- EACH UNIVERSE NEEDS A CENTRAL POWER. A BINDING FORCE TO HOLD IT TOGETHER._ **

** _LIKE CHILDREN YOU WHINE ABOUT ‘FREEDOM’- YOU WHINE AND CRY WHEN I GIVE YOU OPTIONS FOR A BETTER FUTURE LIKE A GROUP OF IMMATURE BABES. YOU KICK AND FIGHT, CLAIMING THAT YOU KNOW MORE THAN I. THAT YOU UNDERSTAND HUMANITY MORE THAN I. AND YET YOU’VE ONLY OBSERVED HUMANITY THROUGH YOUR OWN, BIASED EYES._ **

** _WHAT IS THE WORLD YOU DESIRE?_ **

** _THE ONLY THING YOU CAN MUSTER IS A ‘WORLD WITHOUT GOD’. A ‘WORLD FREE OF MY REIGN’. BUT WHAT DOES THAT ENTAIL? WHAT DOES THAT TRULY MEAN FOR YOUR FUTURE? DID YOU EVER TRULY THINK ABOUT IT?_ **

** _YOU DID NOT._ **

** _YOU FOUGHT. YOU FOUGHT BECAUSE THAT IS ALL YOU KNOW HOW TO DO. YOU FOUGHT BECAUSE ‘IT WORKED BEFORE’. IN YOUR ARROGANCE, YOU DID NOT REALIZE YOU WERE ONLY FIGHTING SHADOWS. WEAK, PATHETIC BEINGS WHO ONLY CALLED THEMSELVES ‘GODS’._ **

** _THE WORLD SHALL BE REBORN. BUT NOT FOR YOU._ **

The seven Persona-users were dropped on the ground. The forms of their previously destroyed Personas hovered in front of them, before condensing and forming into mirror images of the seven humans that dared to defy Gaia. As identical as they were, their eyes were empty- missing the luster of life, the ‘glint’ that made them seem truly human.

** _THESE SHALL TAKE YOUR PLACE. AND THEY SHALL RESPECT MY WORD, AND ENSURE THE REST OF THE WORLD DOES SO AS WELL. YOU SHALL BE DESTROYED, BUT THE CONCEPTS OF ‘YOU’ SHALL LIVE ON._ **

The seven copies slowly began to approach the weakened Persona-users as they lay limp against the ground, their minds fractured and their bodies weak.

“We… lost…?” Maya whispered.

“But… we knew what we wanted… a world where we were… free…” Ren mumbled, trying to stand and failing. “Where did we go wrong?”

Tatsuya’s eyes were downcast. “Freedom… what does that mean in our case? We were so used to fighting for it… how were we supposed to know what we were truly fighting for? How would we even know we were fighting for the same thing…?”

Makoto coughed. “Damn it…! This can’t be it!”

The seven false Persona-users stopped in their tracks, looking up as Gaia’s realm began to shake and crumble. A massive rip appeared behind the Persona-users, as a large form began to hover out. A massive, demonic form, with deep blue skin and massive horns that curled upward surrounded by a mane of long, golden hair. Massive shoulders flexed as two, muscular arms with sharp, intense nails spread outward in almost a mockery of a ‘christ-like’ pose. Six, leathery, powerful wings flapped causing the ‘false humans’ created by Gaia to fly backwards. 

“I never thought I’d say this…” Yu mumbled. “But ‘thank god, it’s Lucifer’...!”

_”That’s enough of your prattling, Gaia.”_ Lucifer said with a wry grin, his voice echoing. _”We’ll handle things for now, Children of Man. After all, Gaia is weaker now.”_

** _YOU DARE TO CALL ME--_ **

_”Your strength is built on by the ideals and beliefs of humans. The humans that you’ve chosen to represent all of humanity no longer believe in you, so your power is waning. That’s why you want to end them as soon as possible, and stripped them of their power so quickly. You wanted to finish them before they realized how simple it would be to finish you.”_ Lucifer pointed at Gaia, as the massive, horrifying form of Satan clawed out of the rift that Lucifer had created. _”If you would, Satan.”_

Satan let out a booming chuckle, before flying and landing between the seven Persona-users and the massive god with a massive thud, causing the weakened humans to shake and tumble over. 

_”I am Satan, the Adjudicator! It is my job to judge and tempt the beings of each and every universe. It is my job to judge the ‘God’ of each world- to tell them if they are worthy of their throne. The ones you rule over have decided you are no longer needed. So that is what my own judgement shall be!”_

Lucifer smirked. _”And to think I used to consider Satan a puppet of ‘Order’. Now, Lilith, if you would- help our friends out.”_ He snapped his massive fingers, as a snake wrapped around the seven weakened humans, yanking them backwards. They all found themselves laying under the demonic form of Lilith, who gave Gaia an admonishing smirk.

_”I see the Great Will hasn’t given you the shape of **<s>YHVH</s>** this time around. What a shame. I was hoping to enact my revenge against Him, but I suppose ‘God’ is still ‘God’, no matter what form it takes.”_ She sneered. She glanced down at the humans. _”You all did well. Keeping Gaia distracted long enough for us to recover our energy to fight. Sit tight for now, Children of Man, and allow Lord Lucifer to have his fun.”_

With that, Lucifer pointed forward, as demons began to pour out of the rift that he had made. Small demons, like Jack Frosts and Pixies. Massive demons, like the hideous, bug-like form of Beelzebub. Even the Fiends that Ren had encountered leaped from Lucifer’s rift and began to swarm Gaia. The god’s careful posture began to falter, as streaks of light came from Gaia- searing through what seemed like an endless mob of demons.

** _ACCURSED BEASTS--! DEMONS HAVE NO RIGHT TO IMPOSE THEIR WILL UPON THE WORLD!_ **

Lucifer scoffed, as the demons continued to pile onto Gaia. The god began to slowly wear down, each wave that was destroyed only begetting another wave of demons. The damage began to slowly pile up, Gaia’s form beginning to crumble and spill trickles of golden ichor. _”You dare call yourself different than us? We are all born of the Collective Unconsciousness of mankind. You are no different than a Preta. And soon shall be no stronger than a Slime!”_

Lucifer lowered by the humans, his eyes shifting toward Ren. _“The Fiends wished to make you their ‘Godslayer’ in order to kill me. However, I am not a god. I am but a demon with lofty ideals.”_ He began, before looking toward Gaia. _”...However, they have a point. We demons can harm. Maim. Rip and tear at Gaia for eternity, and yet we will never be able to slay them. That is something only a Son of Man can do.”_

Ren blinked. “You… want me to do it? But…”

_”Why do you hesitate, child? You’ve destroyed the Demiurge before. I have faith that you can do the same.”_

Ren’s looked away. “I… I don’t have my Persona. I’m weak. My body is aching and my mind feels like it’s on fire...”

Maya shook her head, slowly forcing herself to her feet. “Ren-kun… we have to at least try! Whatever future we wanted… maybe this will lead to it, maybe it won’t, but this is the path we’re carving for ourselves…!”

Yu nodded, standing up as well, holding up a hand to help Ren to his feet. “One strike. One good strike that you put your all into- that’s all we need to win.”

Makoto slowly stood up, yawning. “C’mon, new kid. We might not be able to fight anymore, but you have our full support.”

Tatsuya nodded, as Maya helped him up. “That thing… Gaia… Philemon and Nyarlathotep… they’ve messed with our lives countless times! You have to show that bastard what happens when he messes with humans!”

Naoya stretched, using Yu as a support to stand up. “Come on. Show us what you fancy ‘Phantom Thieves’ are all about.” He said, with a weak smile.

Aigis walked past the group, before turning around. “My systems are weak, but my thrusters still work. I’ll take you up as far as I can. The rest is on you.” She held out her hand towards Ren, smiling as Ren took it and the two of them began running towards Gaia. In a burst of smoke and flame, Aigis ascended into the air, her form shaking as they weaved and spun past the army of demons that continued to assault Gaia over and over again.

** _FALSE MESSIAHS! I WILL NOT LET YOU PASS!_ **

A beam of light fired towards Aigis as she spun out of the way, continuing to pull Ren up. The muscles in Ren’s arm felt like they were on fire, his hands slowly filling with an exhausted numbness. He grit his teeth, biting his tongue until it began to bleed as a burst of adrenaline surged through his body. 

“I will distract Gaia! Use the demons to ascend!” Aigis yelled, letting Ren go as she darted and flew in a different direction, drawing the attention of the massive god as she ducked and dodged around beams of heavenly light. Ren began to fall, before suddenly finding himself on the back of a massive beast. He looked around, before realizing the seven heads that were spewing bolts of electricity, and the woman calmly resting on it’s back. The casual gaze of Mother Harlot turned towards him. 

_”Thee seemeth... diff'rent.”_ She said, calmly. Ren chuckled weakly. Last time he had dealt with the fiends, he had been far from ‘himself’. Still, he hoped that they either still saw him as their ‘leader’, or at the very least didn’t feel like killing him. She turned away from him, rearing her seven-headed beast as it shot further into the air until they were clearly above the massive, divine form of Gaia. _”No matter. Thee shalt still beest our Godslayer. So it seemeth true that our goals are the same.”_

Ren let out a sigh of relief, gripping on tightly as Mother Harlot’s beast did a flip in the air before shooting towards Gaia. “Okay, so… I’m gonna need to land a good blow. Do you have a knife on you?”

Mother Harlot shook her head. Gaia slowly turned her attention away from Aigis, facing Ren.

** _DAMN RATS… YOU TRULY THOUGHT YOU COULD SNEAK AROUND YOUR GOD? I KNOW ALL!_ **

A massive beam of light shot towards Ren and Mother Harlot. Ren braced himself to jump off, before a small childlike form seemed to appear in front of the approaching beam. Alice giggled, holding out her hands as a massive orb of dark, deadly energy began to materialize in front of her.

_”Nuh-uh! If Mister Godslayer is going to die, he’s going to die for me! Not you!”_ Alice said, the holy beam colliding with her massive orb of darkness. The energy began to swirl and combine, becoming increasingly unstable before exploding, sending Gaia backwards slightly from the recoil, and Alice rocketing off in the other direction in a pillar of smoke. Aigis fired a few more shots towards Gaia, pulling the gods attention away for another precious moment. Ren ran off the back of Mother Harlot’s beast, leaping towards Gaia’s head. 

He’d figure out what he’d use for a weapon as he fell. Maybe he just needed to punch Gaia real hard.

“...I fucked up.” He mumbled, before a shimmering _esquote_ blade seemed to be tossed up in front of him. Ren blinked, grabbing it in midair, looking around before seeing the swift, chattering form of Matador grinning up at him.

_”Focus on the fight, boy! It is time for the tercio de muerte! End it!”_ The demon yelled, as Ren’s focus returned to Gaia. He landed on the gods face as it began to writhe and try to fight back, before realizing it’s arms were being held back by thousands of demons. 

Ren spun the blade in his hands, aiming it directly towards Gaia’s forehead.

** _THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT THE MOTHER OF ALL…?! YOU HAVE NO FUTURE! YOU ARE BECOMING NOTHING BUT THE PAWNS OF DEMONS!_ **

“Quit begging. It’s over.” Ren mumbled. He raised the blade, before plunging it in Gaia’s head. Golden ichor began to spurt out as Gaia’s form began to turn to what seemed like dry, desolate stone as the god screamed and writhed in agony. “You lose.”

** _YOU KNOW NOTHING… I SHALL CURSE YOU FOR THIS SIN..._ **

** _THE ‘FREEDOM’ YOU SO DESPERATELY CRAVE… YOU SHALL HAVE IT, BUT ONLY YOU! THE WORLD SHALL SUFFER FOR YOUR INSOLENCE, EVEN IF YOU LIVE…!_ **

** _GOODBYE, FALSE SAVIORS OF MAN…!_ **

The realm began to crumble as Gaia turned to nothing but dust and ash. Ren fell backward, being narrowly caught by Aigis as she tried to keep them both aloft, before realizing that both of them were being pulled towards the ground. Ren looked down as the ground seemed to become nothing but a black void, and watched as Maya, Tatsuya, Yu, Makoto, and Naoya were sucked into it no matter how hard they resisted. 

Ren and Aigis grew closer to the black pit, both of them desperately looking up at Lucifer. He stared at them, before closing his eyes and nodding as they began to sink into the nothingness.

* * *

* * *

_”And so they have earned their freedom from the hands of ‘God’...”_

* * *

* * *

Ren opened his eyes, realizing that he was back on asphalt. “...We’re… back?” He whispered, looking around. He saw the others standing up, a look of horror on all of their faces. He blinked, before realizing he was laying right next to a coffin. He jumped up, quickly running over to rejoin the others. 

“...It’s still the Dark Hour.” Makoto muttered. “Why…! Why is it still the Dark Hour?!” 

Maya covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes watering slightly. “But… but we won, right? We fought back? Then why do I feel like we did something wrong…? Why is everyone a coffin…?”

Ren looked around, before seeing two humans walking towards them. A woman with short dark hair, silver eyes, and a business suit- and a woman with long blonde hair, heterochromatic eyes, and a light blue dress. The two women approached the group of terrified, former-Persona users. 

Tatsuya grit his teeth. “...’Yuriko’... Lilith. And I’m guessing the blonde is Lucifer.” 

Lilith chuckled, before looking around. “What a petty god. Using the last of their power to imprison you all within this hell, with no foreseeable chance of escaping. I’m assuming that every living thing has been turned into a coffin. You’ll soon starve to death, or go mad in the isolation and kill each other. What do you think, my lord?”

The blonde woman chuckled. “...Most likely, yes. It seems you’ve lost a great deal, simply because you’ve had things to lose. May I say that I’m sorry for your loss?”

Naoya crossed his arms, glaring at the two demons. “Shut it with the formalities. You want something, right? You didn’t just come here to say ‘oops, sorry, didn’t know God was going to eternally fuck you guys haha’, right?”

Lucifer nodded, gently twirling a lock of blonde hair. “Mmm. How astute. You remember what I said about there being multiple universes? Your universe isn’t the only one being harassed and manipulated by the Great Will. This cycle of suffering will last forever, with every world that’s considered unworthy being snuffed out in some fashion.”

Yu laughed bitterly. “And you want us to join you to stop it. Even if we said yes, Gaia took away our power. We have no use to you.”

Lilith held back a sly smile. “Power doesn’t only come in the form of ‘Personas’. Lord Lucifer has granted power to humans through other means as well.”

Aigis looked away in thought. “But if we accept that power, we will be eternally indebted to you…”

“But also if we accept this power, we’ll be able to stop this ‘Great Will’ thing from destroying any other timelines like ours…? We’ll be helping people.” Ren mumbled. 

Lucifer held out a hand, smiling widely, the innocent face he took hardly masking the pure power and nebulous intent behind his smile. 

The seven looked among each other for a moment, wondering what to do. They didn’t have much of a choice. This world was forfeit. Gaia made sure of that. The most they could do was stop something like this from ever happening again. And… if that meant making a literal deal with the devil, then they just had to take that chance. 

“...If Lucifer can give us the power to help stop others from suffering like this…” Maya mumbled.

“We don’t know if he’s telling the truth, Big Sis…!” Tatsuya retorted.

Makoto stepped forward past them. “It doesn’t seem like we have much of an option, Suou-san. Unless you feel like fighting him without your Persona. Like it or not, intentional or not, we chose this path. Might as well see it through to the end.”

Lucifer nodded. “So, is it a deal?”

Makoto stared at Lucifer, the others looking away, their faces filled with uncertainty and conflict. The dark, silent sky of the Dark Hour loomed over them, although even the moon was gone. The city of Tokyo was blanketed in darkness, the only light coming from residual flames and the flashing eyes of demons. Makoto took a deep breath, before grasping Lucifer’s hand, shaking it.

“...Deal.”

  
**ETERNAL REBELLION  
[ END ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BuXFGFXlCU&t=8s)   
**


	37. The World We Believe In (TRUE PATH)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaia's ideals are rejected, and a new future is established.

** _WHAT GOOD IS THERE TO RESIST?_ **

** _TO INSIST THAT YOU KNOW MORE THAN YOUR OWN GOD?_ **

** _I HAVE OBSERVED YOU HUMANS FOR MILLENNIA, UPON THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES. AND TO THIS, I MAKE AN OFFER- _ **

** _YOUR WORLD HAS BEEN FILLED WITH NOTHING BUT PAIN AND AGONY. STRUGGLE AFTER STRUGGLE. AS A REWARD FOR YOUR EFFORTS, I CAN GRANT YOU A NEW WORLD. A PEACEFUL WORLD, WHERE NONE ARE HARMED._ **

** _WHAT GOOD IS THERE TO SAY NO? HOW CONTRADICTORY IT WOULD BE FOR YOU TO--_ **

“May I say something?” Maya said, her voice quiet. The only way it carried was due to the fact that Gaia’s chamber seemed to be dead silent outside of the gods booming voice. Her eyes didn’t lift from the ground, but Tatsuya could see them narrow ever so slightly, flickering with suppressed emotion and flecks of irritation. Gaia couldn’t see her eyes. Gaia was looking far past the emotions of one of them, sweeping over the minds of humanity. Missing the forest for the trees.

** _AMANO MAYA. ONE OF MY FAVORED MESSIAHS. I WILL ALLOW YOU TO SPEAK._ **

She looked up.

“By what right do you have to build our world for us?”

The chamber was already quiet, but Maya’s words seemed to slice through it like a blazing hot blade through ice. She slowly rose to her feet, her legs shaking and sweat still pouring down her face from the pressure. Gaia was silent as she turned her head up to face the god once she was standing, giving the omnipresent being the widest, most ‘Maya’ smile she could muster.

“Ah, sorry, Gaia-sama. Mind if I try that again, I think my tongue slipped.”

** _...SO YOU MISSPOKE. ONE OF THE MANY FLAWS OF HUMANS. I WILL ALLOW YOU TO TRY AGAIN._ **

Tatsuya’s eyes focused on her. She hadn’t misspoke. Far from it. She always chose her words carefully, and if she didn’t think she chose them carefully enough, this was more like her firing a plastic bullet to test the waters, and then loading the gun with actual rounds. “Oi, Big Sis…” He whispered. She glanced back towards him, before winking.

Tatsuya grimaced. Clearly she had made up her mind.

She looked back up towards Gaia, struggling a bit to keep her focus but still trying her best. “Well, I was just thinking… what have you really done for us? You’ve made us fight demons, corrupted people, caused tons of problems and deaths… most of the ‘follies’ of mankind usually just happen because some part of you felt like amplifying the worst qualities and humans and having a field day with it. It just seemed a teensy bit hypocritical for you to talk down to us when all you’ve done is knock us down, force us to pick up the pieces, and then knock us down again- right?”

Her smile dropped.

“You really are a useless god, aren’t you?”

** _..._ **

** _A USELESS GOD?_ **

** _SO THE TALK OF THE DEMON LORD HAS TRULY INFLUENCED YOU..._ **

“Ugh.” Ren muttered. “Now there’s something I hate. Everyone who disagrees with you is a sinner, but you’re forcing the only options to be either ‘agree with you’ or ‘be worthless’. What’s the point?” He struggled up to his feet as well, blue flames surrounding him as his clothes shifted to his Phantom attire. “If what you think Amano-sensei’s saying is wrong, then tell us what’s wrong about it.”

** _YOU NEED TO BE TOLD WHAT IS WRONG WITH DENYING YOUR GOD? THE VERY CONCEPT IN AND OF ITSELF IS BLASPHEMOUS, AND YOU ALL NOT REALIZING AS SUCH IS A TESTAMENT TO YOUR CORRUPTION._ **

“Sorry, but I disagree.” Yu said, as politely as he could, rising as well. “Aren’t we just sharing our perspectives? A god should know that the minds of their people are varied and distinct. Besides, they’re telling the truth.” He folded his arms, nodding. “Our struggles… they’re in response to the dangers that your aspects had built for us. I feel as if ‘useless’ is a bit harsh, but shouldn’t both sides at least attempt to take responsibility.”

Makoto had already risen to his feet, idly helping Aigis up. “Yeah,” He said. “I mean… Nyx is literally the personification of death, and we’ve had to defend against that time and time again. So, maybe grow the hell up and stop getting so defensive?”

** _YOU DARE SPEAK TO ME THAT WAY? BEGONE!_ **

Several holy beams shot from Gaia’s body, the group narrowly rolling out of the way, before casting some spells of their own.

“Apologies on rejecting your offer, Gaia! But we have to build our own future! One of your aspects- Philemon- understands that! Philemon, I know you’re in there!” Maya pleaded.

** _IT IS NO USE FOR YOU TO APPEAL TO ‘PHILEMON’._ **

“But Gaia,” Aigis reasoned, “It is true that you understand the potential of humans. You claim to be brought together, but there has to be conflict within you. If you will allow us to progress instead of interfering so often, then we could grow even further.”

“But that also means you’d have to back off.” Naoya said. “And you don’t want that. You get your high off keeping humans lowly and crawling for your help.”

** _BE QUIET!_ **

“You know, don’t you? That humans could progress whether there is a ‘god’ or not. That’s what you’re afraid of- we realized it, and you don’t want anyone else to realize it too, or else you won’t exist anymore.” Tatsuya said, scowling.

** _YOU HAVE NO… YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WISH FOR YOUR FUTURE TO BE!_ **

“But… isn’t that okay?” Maya asked. “We don’t need to know the exact future, we just need to put in the effort to make it better, right? We don’t need a solution- we need the building blocks to help us work towards a solution. But you don’t want to give us that- you want us to flounder blindly so that we just keep running in circles. Nyarlathotep made it his goal to turn us against each other- to make us fight one another- because he knows just how dangerous humans can be when we work together!”

** _SUCH… SUCH EMPTY FOOLISHNESS… I AM YOUR BENEVOLENT GOD… I KNOW WHAT IS BEST..._ **

Tatsuya scoffed. “Gaia isn’t listening anymore. We’ll have to start doing some damage now, and then…”

Maya nodded. “That’s fine. Gaia wants to break our will, but we can break theirs first!”

Gaia didn’t seem to be getting ‘weaker’, per se, but the massive form of the god did seem to be becoming less stable. Whatever they were saying, it was stirring conflict within the massive being. The seven Persona-users exchanged glances, nodding before Maya fired several arrows from Artemis Prime’s bow. They seemed to be going in random directions, one or two jamming into Gaia’s shimmering, god-like flesh- although others seemed to be careening towards walls. The temperature in the chamber, which seemed- despite the constant conflict- to stay at a central, middling, peaceful amount seemed to plummet.

** _WHAT IS THIS…?_ **

Gaia looked around, before realizing that they were surrounded by dozens and dozens of lines of ice. Ren immediately sprung into action, hoping from each thin line to the next with a precision that was becoming of a Phantom Thief. He didn’t unleash any big, flashy attacks, and it almost seemed as if he was too small and too fast for the wavering god to land a hit on. He bounced around with awe-inspiring speed, his form flashing blue for the briefest moment each time he landed on one of Artemis’ lines, before finally jumping backward. His form became more clear, Ren smirking deviously as the shape of Raoul hovered behind him holding two pistols that were smoking from the barrels.

The chamber was filled with a high, hollow ringing noise- as Gaia finally realized the shape of what seemed like hundreds of small, flaming objects bouncing between each of the web-like lines that Artemis had set up. 

“Thousands of cursed bullets. None of them are ‘Sinful Shells’, but the second you knock one of those lines out of place, it’ll hurt like nothing before!” Ren yelled, confidently. He landed on the ground by Yu. “Checkmate.”

** _I SEE. A TRICK BEFITTING OF A TRICKSTER. HOWEVER..._ **

With one smooth arm movement, Gaia obliterated half of the lines of ice, sending the cursed bullets flying in random directions. Yu immediately summoned Izanagi-no-Okami, using his Personas circular blade to block the incoming projectiles from hitting him and his allies, ricocheting them back towards Gaia where they skimmed the god.

** _TO THINK THAT A GOD LIKE MYSELF WOULD BE AFRAID OF SUCH A PALTRY TRICK IS ARROGANT._ **

Ren narrowed his eyes, before Aigis walked up next to him. “Amamiya-san. Do you remember what you did earlier? When we fought against Lucifer?”

“Huh? Wait… do you mean…”

Aigis nodded. “Can you do that again?”

“I’m not… entirely sure how. I mean, I just kind of ‘borrowed’ Orpheus from you last time, but it just… happened? I’m not sure if that’s something I can do again.”

Naoya looked over at the two of them. “...What’re you both whispering about? I’d rather you both keep your heads in the game.”

Aigis nodded, before looking over at Yu. “Narukami-san, can you come here a moment?”

Yu jogged over tentatively, before Aigis grabbed his hand and interlocked it with Ren’s hand. There was nothing for a moment, before suddenly Ren’s mask sparked with electricity and he reeled his hand back. His mask floated off his face, spinning in front of Ren before he reached out and crushed it in his grip. The form of Izanagi flashed behind Ren, although it was different than its original counterpart- wearing the checkered attire of a Shujin student. In a sudden burst of power, it fired a blast of wild lightning towards Gaia, which narrowly missed the god. 

“...Holy shit.” Yu said.

“Holy shit.” Ren echoed. “...Did I just..?”

Aigis nodded. “I had been hypothesizing about this for a while. It seems as if you can ‘steal’ the Personas of those with similar powers to you.” She looked over at Makoto, gesturing for him to come over with a quick gesture of her head. Makoto lazily wandered over, calmly offering his hand to Ren.

“Yuuki-kun… this is a bit fast, don’t you think?” Ren said, as Makoto rolled his eyes.

“Just take my Persona, asshole.”

“Christ, you’re boring.” Ren mumbled with a smile, the two interlocking hands once again before Ren stumbled back in a burst of dark energy. He swayed for a moment, his eyes glowing an ominous blue before he formed his fingers into the shape of a gun, pointing at his head with an ominous look on his face. He mimed shooting himself in the head, his body bursting with blue flames as a dangerous-looking Persona hovered behind him.

“Thanatos, huh?” Makoto asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ren’s ‘Thanatos’ roared, before suddenly acting on its own. It flew towards Gaia, as the god quickly tried to establish a counterattack- the Persona ducked and weaved between each of the beams that Gaia had fired out towards it, pulling out a series of blades and gouging the god under the eyes before suddenly vanishing as Ren stumbled forward, coughing.

“...Why the hell am I discovering this power _now_?” He asked. Aigis shrugged.

“You haven’t worked with others like yourself until now. But… that is truly a unique ability. Let us make the best use of it.” 

Ren nodded, before glancing over at Yu. “...Wanna help me give Izanagi a test-run?” 

Yu smiled, before summoning Izanagi-no-Okami. The two of them focused on Gaia, the two thunder gods surrounding themselves with massive amounts of electrical energy. Storm clouds gathered over the two of them, the two Personas quaking with power- although Yu’s version of Izanagi seemed to be holding up better than Ren’s. Ren grit his teeth, keeping his Persona steady, while Yu calmly pointed towards Gaia.

“Ready?” Yu asked. Ren just nodded in response. 

**”Wild Thunder!”** The two Wild Cards screamed in unison, as a gargantuan bolt of lightning spiraled towards Gaia. The god seemed to be a bit worried about the size of the blast- a glittering, ethereal shield appearing in front of them as the bolt of lightning was reflected back. 

“Not a chance!” Yu yelled, Izanagi-no-Okami spinning its blade, knocking the attack back toward Gaia. The bolt hit, causing the god to let out it’s first shout of pain as electricity rocketed everywhere, searing into the reflective floors and pristine walls of the realm. 

“Our turn.” Makoto said with a nod. Ren smirked, summoning Thanatos Picaro alongside Makoto’s version of Thanatos. The two beings of Death flew towards Gaia, each one cleaving dark, ominous gashes within the god. Gaia stumbled back, clearly growing more irritated by their resistance.

** _HUMANS… STEALING POWER FROM… RELYING… NO… YOU ARE ALL FOOLS… ARROGANT… IGNORANT… STOP THIS…_ **

The confidence of the god seemed to be waning even further. Maya smiled, summoning her Persona again.

“No, Gaia- you were right before! We’re relying on one another, and we’ll keep on doing so in the future! This is our time, and you know it too, don’t you? That’s why you’re getting afraid. That’s why you’re getting so defensive!”

** _YOU KNOW NOTHING! THIS WORLD NEEDS A GOD!_ **

Gaia swung their massive fist towards the group. As Maya grinned.

“Tacchan! Now!” 

On cue, the group of Persona-users dodged the fist as Tatsuya leaped onto the shimmering, holy arm of the god. He began running Gaia’s arm, watching as the two Thanatos’ continued to cleave and dig into the deity. He continued pushing forward, watching as Gaia tried to knock him off. A massive beam of light shot toward him as time seemed to skip, Tatsuya appearing on Gaia’s other arm and proceeding upward. He grew closer to Gaia’s head, reaching out.

“Philemon! Maya says you’re in there, right? So you’ve gotta understand, right?”

** _I AM GAIA. THE GUIDE OF HUMANS IS I, AND SHALL ETERNALLY BE PART OF MY BEING._ **

“Bullsh--” Tatsuya stumbled backward, before being knocked away from Gaia as he was hit point-blank by a beam of overwhelmingly bright light. He began to plummet off the ground before being caught mid-air by Aigis, who flew him back in front of Gaia.

“Listen, Philemon!” Tatsuya continued. “I know we don’t really… see eye to eye, but that doesn’t matter right now. You said you wanted to guide humans, right? You can’t abandon us now!” He reached out further. And further.

** _HUMANS… N...NEED A GOD… TO RULE… TO RULE… TO... _ **

Closer and closer.

Gaia’s head seemed to crack and split, before a shining arm burst from it along with a series of glistening, golden butterflies. Philemon’s hand gripped on to Tatsuya’s as he and Aigis pulled back, the spirit guide being yanked from the massive, oppressive form of Gaia. Philemon slowly took on a more human form, with an auburn ponytail and a white butterfly mask that covered half of his face. The spirit guide looked up at Tatsuya as he was drawn in closer, his expression exhausted. 

_”...We… we have to…”_

‘Gaia’ roared, the massive god beginning to turn a dull-grey, patterns of the ever expansive universe appearing on its skin, and sickly green veins beginning to permeate on its body. It seemed to lose the holy luster it had, becoming even more of an oppressive, overwhelming force as opposed to the warm, ‘motherly’ appearance it held before. A chill ran down Tatsuya’s spine as faces- thousands and thousands of wailing faces bubbled up on the gods skin like warts- each one pulsating and drooling, wailing and coughing, screaming in abject fear and agony.

**”FOOLS. NOTHING BUT MORONIC, CONTRADICTORY FOOLS.”**

A dull, disgusting tendril whipped out towards Aigis, Tatsuya, and Philemon- sending the three flying back and slamming against the back wall of the gods chamber. They plummeted to the ground, crashing down in a pile.

**”I AM GLAD YOU FREED PHILEMON. FOR NOW I CAN EXERT THE TRUE WILL OF HUMANITY. HUMANITY WISHES TO DIE. TO DESTROY ITSELF. IT YEARNS FOR THE SWEET SILENCE OF A LIFE PASSING, AND THE HORRIBLE CRIES OF CHAOS. THAT IS I. I AM THOU, AND THOU SHALL BOW TO I.”**

**“I AM PURE, UNRESTRAINED KHÁOS.”**

“...That seems bad.” Yu muttered. Maya shook her head.

“No, this is the best possible outcome! I can feel it!” She grinned, before firing an arrow from Artemis Prime. The freezing projectile struck Khaos, a spurt of disgusting, viscous, dark blood spewing from the wound. She nodded. 

“Looks like this little god is losing their divinity! Now it’s just nothing more than an overgrown Shadow!”

Aigis, Tatsuya, and Philemon limped over to the group. Aigis looked up at Khaos, nodding. “...I see. I can now get a decent reading of its power and weak spots. Khaos is incomplete- it needed Philemon-sama to keep up its power.”

_”...I am truly sorry…”_ Philemon whispered, his form flickering for a moment. _”I… I need time to recover. I don’t think I can assist you…”_

Tatsuya chuckled. “That’s fine. We weren’t expecting much from you anyways. Now- let’s finish this!” 

The seven Persona-users roared, sprinting forward. Khaos summoned a mass of tendrils and dark energy, the chamber shaking as they tried to dodge the series of attacks while returning with their own set of blows. Strike after strike, it seemed as if they were whittling the chaotic being down, their nature overpowering his. Before all the wailing faces that littered the beings body turned red, their eyes focusing on the group and fired a massive, oppressive, almighty beam that sent them all spiraling backwards. They found themselves collapsed in a pile.

**”IDIOTS. YOU CLAIM TO SPEAK FOR ALL OF HUMANITY? AND YET YOU BLAME ME FOR DOING THE SAME. HOW PATHETIC. HOW CONTRADICTORY”.**

Another beam of almighty energy. The group screamed in pain, their clothes beginning to rip, burn, and burst into flames.

**”THIS WORLD WILL DIE. THAT IS WHAT HUMANITY WANTS. FOR THE PAIN TO END. FOR THE AGONY TO END.”**

“T...the agony that you caused…” Maya coughed. “What you’re doing isn’t fair…!”

**”FAIRNESS? YOU ASK FOR FAIRNESS? THE WORLD ISN’T FAIR, CHILD OF MAN.”**

Another beam of light flew toward the group, before suddenly being stopped. The group looked forward weakly, before seeing the outline of Naoya standing against the incoming attack- Amon-Ra’s staff holding the blast back.

“...What bullshit.” Naoya growled. “Sure, humans are hypocritical- but that doesn’t mean we all want to die. You don’t understand people in the slightest.”

Naoya grit his teeth, his heels digging into the ground as Amon-Ra continued to push back- an ominous light coming from his Persona. “People want to see the future- whether they admit it or not. And if they don’t, then they most likely know someone who does. Humanity wants so many different things that even I can’t make some big, grand generalization- but that’s why we need to keep living!”

Amon-Ra flashed, as the robes of the persona seemed to shimmer and grow longer, the ‘skin’ of the Persona resembling the worldly shine of Gaia. 

“Humans need to keep living so that we can finally understand ourselves! Life isn’t just a walk from point A to point B- it’s about self-discovery! It’s about growth! And we’ve barely even started!” Naoya yelled, before his Persona exploded in a burst of light- Khaos’ beam disintegrating into nothingness.

Naoya stood before them, a divine, powerful force hovering behind him. The outline of a pharaoh, although it was too bright to make out any true features. Naoya slowly approached Khaos, as his Persona spoke.

_”I am thou. Thou art I. I will see to the creation of a new and better world. I am the parent of all, the builder of the future. I am Atum.”_

**”WAIT… NO, I AM THE ONE WHO SHALL FACILITATE AND DESTROY THIS WORLD! I WILL GRANT THE WISHES OF HUMANITY!”**

A tendril shot towards Naoya. It struck Atum, before exploding in a burst of divine light. Khaos threw more tendrils toward Naoya as the man approached, each tendril exploding into bursts of shining, positive light as they even dared to touch Naoya and his evolved Persona.

“...Humanity still has a long way to grow. We’re far from ‘mature’, but I’m going to make sure that we live to see that maturity.” Naoya said, now inches away from the chaotic god. Atum raised his hand, summoning a staff, as Khaos continued to rain attack after attack on Naoya- each one being deflected- and each one becoming more desperate. “The ‘new world’ we desire… is no different than the old world we had. One riddled with pain and tragedy, but also hope and potential. We can only grow from our failures. If we keep resetting every time we fail, then we’ll simply be stuck in the same place for eternity.”

**"N-NO… YOU WISH FOR SUFFERING? YOU ARE NO MESSIAH OF HUMANITY! YOU HAVE CONDEMNED THEM! CONDEMNED YOUR PEOPLE!"**

Naoya closed his eyes. “We’re far from ‘messiahs’. We’re human. And I trust that we can grow past this- I believe we can grow past this.” Atum rested his staff on Khaos, as hieroglyphs began to creep and spread across the dull, disgusting, gargantuan being.

None of them could read hieroglyphs, but the images that Atum spread across Khaos were clear. It was a history. The history of humans. Wars and tragedies, massive leaps and bounds in innovation. Small moments like children riding bikes, or massive accomplishments like people venturing into space. A world that was filled with angelic grace. A world that was tainted by demonic cruelty.

A world with infinite potential.

“...It’s over.” Naoya said, as the hieroglyphs began to sear and burn into Khaos’ flesh. The god let out frantic, pained roars- pleading for their life and admonishing them for their foolishness at the same time. Before suddenly…

Khaos was gone.

Like a blink, the hieroglyphs flashed and the god vanished, leaving nothing but an empty void remaining. Naoya sighed, walking back to the group.

.

..

...

Ren looked up at the vast, empty space where the massive god was. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. “Did we… did we win?” He asked, slowly. “...like, for real?”

Philemon closed his eyes. _”...The cycle of violence only continues. As admirable as your stance was, I don’t see how it solved anything… it just reset all of the pieces. Nyarlathotep will surely return, and Nyx is back where she began- the only thing missing is her seal.”_ He said, before sighing. _”That isn’t to say I’m not impressed with what you’ve done, but…”_ He trailed off, looking to the side as Maya stared at him through squinted eyes. She reached out, before flicking the god in the forehead, huffing.

“We won, Philemon. And that’s that. For now, our future is ours again.” She said, “Besides, isn’t this where people get tripped up? People always want some end-all-be-all solution, but… we can’t just have something like that handed to us, right?”

Naoya nodded. “...Right. If people can grow from this- learn from this- use this tragedy as an opportunity to band together… then that’s one more victory for humanity.” He stared up at the vast, empty space that was the ‘ceiling’ of Gaia’s realm. “We’re… so small in this world. Compared to the gods and demons that we create, we’re like ants who managed to paint a masterpiece.” He closed his eyes, nodding. “But… that’s beautiful. The things that the human mind can create. From vicious demons to arrogant gods. To bring back legendary pharaohs, Japanese heroes and sly rebels from the depths of obscurity. People did this. Made all of these amazing, complicated, terrifying things- they were all born from our minds. So people should be the ones to pick up the pieces, so we can have more chances to build experiences we can learn and grow from…”

He paused, before scratching his head. “Yeesh… somebody say something else, that was way more words than I’m used to.”

Yu chuckled. “Wow, Gramps. You sounded actually pretty cool for a moment there.”

Naoya smiled. “Really? Thanks Narukami-saaa… wait, Gramps? The hell is up with that?”

Ren rubbed his chin. “Well, aren’t you the oldest?”

“Hell no! Isn’t Amano-sa…” Naoya glanced over at Maya, who was staring directly at him with an incredibly dangerous smile on her face.

Maya giggled. “Is there anything you want to say, Toudou-san? Why, I’m on the fresh side of twenty!” She fluttered her lashes at him, as Naoya slowly and deliberately focused his attention away from her, sweat starting to bead on his forehead.

“...If she can lie so flagrantly and confidently about something like that then there’s no use in arguing.” Naoya mumbled, as Tatsuya quietly patted him on the shoulder. “I guess I’m ‘Gramps’ now.”

“You’re a smart man.” Tatsuya consoled.

Philemon cleared his throat. _”Well… that display aside, as much as humans have to take responsibility, I should as well.”_ He looked over at Tatsuya. _”I understand you have some… reservations concerning me, and I’m sure they won’t be resolved now. Not with what I’ve done to you.”_

Tatsuya narrowed his eyes. “...Uh-huh.”

_”That day, those years ago, when you struck me… that stayed with me. As composed as I was then, that was the first time I had been hit by a human out of malice… or… no, it was anger. Justified anger. I had been so wrapped up in my role as a ‘benevolent observer’ that I had just tried to convince myself that your strike was an act of youthful rebellion. Pent up feelings and unchecked emotion.”_

“Listen, Philemon…” Tatsuya began. Philemon raised a hand, cutting him off.

_”...The truth was, it bothered me. You acted out of line, but you showed me that humans could act out of line. As much ‘free will’ that you have, I always thought you were set in your paths and natures. I could predict Toudou and his power. Sonomura coming to grips with herself. But you… you chose to defy my expectations. Made me question my very being.”_ Philemon smiled, a placid expression on his face. _”...’I am thou, and thou art I’. Those words I have heard an astounding amount of times, and yet I was arrogant in regards to their true meaning. I was born from human thought to guide humans to be better, and instead I chose to sit on the sidelines and watch as my counterpart made things worse. Perhaps that’s why I tried to help Amano within Sumaru City in my weakened state when the timeline split. Perhaps that’s why I interfered and assisted you during your battle with Narukami. Perhaps that’s why I chose to prompt the awakening of the elder Niijima.”_

Maya looked at Philemon, tilting her head slightly. “...Hey…”

_”A ‘useless god’. You told that to Gaia but… Gaia’s failures were my own. I thought myself a being with boundless wisdom, but obviously I miscalculated. Humans are… bizarre and unpredictable. To assume I know all concerning them is arrogant.”_ He smiled gently, bowing slightly. _”I am truly grateful, and I wish to continue to watch humans flourish, so that I may guide you all to a better future.”_

“Ph...Phil…!” Maya rubbed her eyes, before wrapping Philemon in a hug. The god let out a small shout of surprise as Maya squeezed him tight, before the spirit guide awkwardly patted her on the back.

_”...Truly bizarre creatures…”_ Philemon mumbled, getting Maya off him with a gentle, yet affirmative push. _”Right. I shall take responsibility for this calamity as well. The lives of those who are lost will be returned. A rare second chance but… I feel as if it is earned-- no, as if it is deserved.”_

Yu blinked. “Wait… so, Rise…” Philemon nodded, as Yu gasped. He looked over excitedly at Ren, who also seemed astonished, before glancing back at Philemon. 

“...Thank you!” He finally managed to gasp out, bowing. “Thank you so much!”

“Well, I guess we can really say we won now!” Maya clapped her hands together before looking over at Yu with a wide smile. “Narukami-san! You tried that chant-thingy earlier and it didn’t work, do you want to try again?”

Yu rolled his eyes. “I was trying to boost morale, Amano-san… but, we did win. The least we could do is solidify it.” He gestured for everyone to come together, Philemon being the only one that stood a fair distance away with a curious expression on his face. The seven Persona-users put their hands together, Tatsuya glancing back towards the observing god with a tense expression on his face.

“...Let’s please get this over with as fast as possible…” He groaned.

Yu grinned. “Alright, on three, we say ‘We did it’! Got it?”

Naoya scoffed. “What are we, a bunch of middle-school girls…?”

“You said ‘high school girls’ last time, Toudou-san…” Aigis mumbled.

“The more I thought about it, the more juvenile it seemed…” He retorted.

The seven of them held their hands together, before Yu started to count down, an excited smile on his face.

“One… two… three!”

The seven of them cheered- some of them saying ‘we did it’, a couple others letting out half-hearted ‘woops’, and Tatsuya letting out an empty ‘yay’ before the group realized that one of the arms in the circle was starting to fade. 

All eyes turned to Makoto, who was slowly growing paler and more translucent. He had a peaceful expression on his face. Not of someone who was sitting in blissful ignorance of what was happening, but of someone who had just… accepted it. Makoto slid one of his hands in his pockets, running a hand through his hair with the other and glancing over at Philemon.

“I get it. This ‘body’ was on loan anyways.” He said. “Well, I guess this is it. See ya.”

Ren furrowed his brow. “...’See ya’? Awfully casual, don’t you think?”

Makoto turned around, facing away from the group, before shrugging. “Kinda. But what’s the point of making it a big deal? I already told you guys I was dead. Don’t act so shocked.”

Naoya sighed. “...Why the hell are you trying to act so tough? You have something to prove, or what?”

Yu nodded. “Right! Come on, Philemon-sama is right there. Maybe he can give you a new body- give you a chance at living again.” Yu looked over at Aigis. “Aigis-san, he’s your leader, right? Don’t you want him to stay?”

All eyes fell on Aigis, who had been quiet. She stared at Makoto, blue eyes glittering as she held one of her arms awkwardly, swaying back and forth. She glanced away from Makoto, a small, pathetic smile tugging at her lips.

“...See you.”

Ren’s eyes widened. “Aigis--!” He stopped as he heard the sound of hitched breathing. They couldn’t see Makoto’s face, but his shoulders were trembling. His thin hands squeezed into tight fists, shaking with suppressed emotion.

“...You all are awful.” He whispered.

Nobody knew what to say. 

“...’Once this is over, let’s meet up again’! ‘Let’s fight for our future’! Jeez… what the hell…?” He reached up, wiping his eyes with his sleeve, letting out a harsh and bitter laugh. “All of this talk about the future… about people building the new world… but I… I… I c--” Makoto could barely finish, his words caught in his throat, refusing to turn around to even face them. A heavy sheet of guilt hung over the group, before Aigis walked past them all, calmly wrapping her arms around Makoto from behind.

“...You’re tired, aren’t you?” She said, gently. “You woke up just to help us… you fought so hard… you must be exhausted.”

Makoto swallowed hard, his eyes facing forward and away. She rested her cheek against the back of his head, his hair brushing against her face as he nodded, ever so slightly. 

“Please, don’t worry about the future. I made a promise to you then, right? That I would continue living to protect you. ...And you also have your own role to play, right?” She continued, her voice quiet. “...Do you trust me…?”

Makoto reached, lightly gripping onto one of Aigis’ arms. “...Aigis…” He started to turn his head back to face her, she quickly stopped him.

“...Don’t. Please, don’t look back.” She whispered. Her voice was calm. Soothing. They held onto each other for a moment longer. Waiting. Neither of them ready to go, but both of them realizing the truth. 

Or, they had realized it a while ago. They just hadn’t realized it would be happening so soon.

Seconds had passed, although the moment seemed like it dragged on for hours. Neither of them said anything, as Makoto’s form grew more and more faint- the already faltering purchase that Aigis had on his body slowly lessened. Makoto mumbled something to her. Quiet. Impossible for the rest of them to discern, but enough to force Aigis’ shoulders to tense and her knees to buckle slightly. 

And then he was gone.

Aigis’ arms fell limp by her side. Maya quickly turned to face Philemon.

“You can bring Yuuki-kun back, right? You could bring back everyone else so--” Tatsuya grabbed onto her shoulder. She turned back to look at him, as he somberly shook his head. They all looked back at Aigis. Arms limp by her side, looking as if she was ready to collapse at any given moment.

She slowly turned her head, glancing back toward them. A peaceful smile barely held together by quivering lips. Pitiful eyes, and cheeks stained with tears. She turned back away from them, before nodding.

“...Well, everyone. Let’s go home. We have a world to rebuild.”

[ THE PATH TO THE FUTURE... ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWZ0WnNhmIo)


	38. Live Another Day (Epilogue)

**AUGUST, 2017. TOKYO, JAPAN.**

To say that things returned to normal would be wholly inaccurate. Tokyo was under frantic reconstruction, and basically on lockdown. Nobody was going in or out of the city. While that did give Ren and his friends more excuses to hang out, their summer had been progressing… slowly for the time being. Sure, school had been delayed for what seemed like a long time, but so had a lot of other places. Lots of the shops they wanted to frequent were being rebuilt, the theaters were slowly being smoked out and locked down for any more ‘monsters’, which meant that far too many of the already sparse summer days they had were spent at LeBlanc.

Simply enough, the Phantom Thieves were growing tired of coffee and curry, and Sojiro was growing weary of his customer base averaging out at 18 years old. 

Despite being stuck in the same city, he had seen little of his fellow ‘messiahs’. Aigis was desperately helping the Kirijo Group with cleanup- both literally and socially. Yu was off enjoying the break with his own friends, and Naoya was most likely doing the same. Tatsuya had… basically gone off the grid, and Maya did have the genius idea of starting a group chat for them. It just so happened that only she, Ren, and Yu were the only ones who consistently used their phones. 

He turned his phone on again- for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past five minutes, his face half-submerged in a pillow as Morgana kneaded on his back. He stared at it through half-lidded eyes, before sighing.

“Why don’t you go for a run?” Morgana suggested, stifling a yawn. 

“Mmph.” Ren replied, turning his head so that his face was fully submerged in the pillow, and Morgana gently turned it back so he didn’t accidentally suffocate himself from the boredom.

“Don’t be like that. You have your bags packed too, right?” 

Before Ren could respond, his ears perked up at the sound of footsteps downstairs. 

“Yahallo! Good morning, Sakura-san!” A woman called out. “Where’s Ren-kun?”

Ren slowly dragged himself out of his bed, crashing into the floor. Morgana stared at him with a mixture of disappointment and pity, before gripping Ren by the sleeve with his teeth, and slowly pulling him toward the attic stairs. 

“You know…” The cat grumbled. “You’re not really acting like someone who saved the world…”

Ren groaned, slowly standing up and detaching Morgana from his sleeve, cradling the cat like a baby. “Yeah, yeah. Anyways, if Amano-sensei and Suou-san are here already, then the others shouldn’t be far behind…”

“Should I go?” Morgana asked, wriggling out of Ren’s arms and deftly leaping onto his shoulders. 

Ren looked at Morgana for a moment in silence. “...If you want to stay, then…”

As much as Morgana wanted things to be fully back to normal, it was obvious that Ren was still carrying some guilt. No matter how many times he and the rest of the Thieves said they forgave him. Hence why today was going to be especially important. Morgana lightly smacked Ren with the back of his tail, before leaping from the boy’s shoulders and bounding over to the attic’s windowsill. 

“I’ll see you in a little bit. You better get downstairs quick- you know how much the chief hates social interaction… especially with Amano-san.” The cat laughed to himself before vanishing out the window, leaving Ren to descend the steps on his own. As soon as he got down, he was faced with the smiling face of Maya, and the… decidedly more neutral face of Tatsuya. Maya waved excitedly as Ren glanced over to Sojiro, who seemed overwhelmingly relieved to have the attention off of him.

“There you are, Ren-kun! Descending from the attic- it reminds me of the first time we met!”

Ren slowly sat down at one of the bar stools, yawning heavily as Sojiro slid a mug towards him. Ren mumbled a word of thanks, taking a sip of the hot coffee before looking back at Maya. “...I guess so, huh? That was only about a month ago.”

Maya nodded. “Man, it seemed like longer! You’ve definitely grown up a bit since then, Ren-kun! Am I starting to see some facial hair?” She giggled, “I feel like a proud parent!”

Ren blushed, glancing away and at the T.V situated in the corner of LeBlanc. It seemed as if they were finally letting people out of Tokyo, thanks to the joint effort from both the Kirijo and Nanjo groups when it came to rebuilding the city. The city was far from ‘rebuilt’- but most of the damage had been patched up. Especially the massive ‘portal’ to the Other Side, which seemed to be just a shallow crater now. 

“...We all should be getting home.” Tatsuya commented. “Honestly, getting train tickets has been a pain- so many people are desperate to either get back here or go home that the websites keep crashing and the stations are crowded…”

“Right! We actually managed to grab some tickets to Sumaru, so us ‘Sumaru-ites’ will probably be heading back later today.” She seemed a bit sad, before quickly shaking it off. “So, we swung by to say goodbye!”

The door to LeBlanc was gently pushed open, as another person entered. 

“Saying goodbye without the rest of us?” Yu asked, with a tired smile. He yawned, sliding into one of the booths. “Awfully cruel of you, Amano-san.”

“You know what I meant, Yu-kun!” She retorted. “I’m glad you could make it… is Kujikawa-san…?”

He sighed. “She’s okay. Technically she’s supposed to be hospitalized alongside Naoto, but she’s still planning on doing her show as soon as possible- despite what her managers and I keep trying to tell her.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small envelope and tossing it to Ren, before continuing the conversation. “She kept saying ‘isn’t it my duty as an idol to raise the people’s spirits- you’ve gotta let me do it, Yu’! And I quickly realized I was fighting a losing battle.” He closed his eyes, smiling. “She’s always been impressive- able to bounce back from almost anything- so I guess I shouldn’t be shocked.”

Ren looked at the envelope. “...Are these…?”

Yu shrugged. “She said she promised you concert tickets for life if you both made it out alive.”

“But--”

“She’s alive, isn’t she?” Yu said, contentedly leaning back.”Rise is smart, Amamiya-kun. She realized something was wrong as soon as she met you- and after her and I compared notes, she decided that holding a grudge for something you didn’t have control over was wrong.” He smiled, with an overwhelming sense of understanding that made Ren feel a bit small. “I already said I forgive you, and this is Rise’s way of showing her forgiveness. It’d be rude if you didn’t accept it, right? She guessed at how many friends you had, so I think there are 10 ticket passes.”

Before Ren could argue any more, the door to LeBlanc swung open again. Naoya stretched his arms, yawning heavily as he sat down and ordered coffee without acknowledging anyone else. Sojiro quietly poured him a cup, before exiting the cafe, leaving the five of them to their own devices. Naoya sighed, before finally turning his attention to the group.

“...Mornin’.”

“Nice of you to notice us.” Tatsuya mumbled. 

Naoya shrugged. “Not a morning person… but Maki and I have an early ride to Mikage-cho, so I had to get up anyway. Just can’t hang around for long.” He exhaled, looking up toward the ceiling.

“What’s the matter, Toudou-san?”

“...I was just wonderin’... did we make the right choice? The world is back where it was for the most part but… I dunno, we could have asked for it to be better. I mean, we still got demons, Shadows, Personas… and Philemon had a point. The hell is gonna stop something like this from happening again?”

The five of them sat in silence for a moment, before the door to LeBlanc jingled open one last time.

“We will.” Aigis said, slowly closing the door behind her. She seemed… a bit different. Her posture was more relaxed, and a pair of old-looking headphones dangled around her neck. She cleared her throat, before nodding. “The difference between us before this calamity, and us after this calamity, is that now we know each other. We trust each other. We’ve taken the time to forge new bonds.” She sat down next to Ren, folding her arms. “The negative aspects of humanity feed off of distrust and fear, but we’ve grown beyond that. At least, I believe we have.”

“...Right.” Ren said. “We’re better now. Oh, by the way, do you have everything packed, Aigis?”

Maya blinked. “Hm? Packed? Are you two going somewhere?”

Aigis tapped her fingers against the bar. “Amamiya-san and his friends were planning on taking a road trip to Sapporo to see the fireworks, since they’ve been delayed for so long. They were also generous enough to invite Ken-san, Koro-chan, and myself.”

Ren scratched his head. “Well… we caused enough trouble for Amada-san earlier, and this is my way of saying thanks, I guess. Besides, the rest of the Thieves have been itching to get out of Tokyo for a while now.”

Yu chuckled. “Sounds like fun. My friends and I will be heading back to Inaba to help with clean-up, and the fireworks too. I just got off the phone with my younger cousin before getting here… she’s fine, luckily the demons hadn’t gotten as far as Inaba yet. Not in large amounts, at least. Turns out the small, prefectural police and my uncle managed to fend them off… with Labrys-san’s help too.” He glanced over at Aigis with a small smile.

“Right. Nanjo and Kirijo already have agents all over the place cleaning up Japan.” Naoya added. “Apparently an old classmate of mine is helping out too- um, Uchida-san?”

“Tammy?” Maya asked. “Oh- man! I can’t wait to get back to Sumaru…! After everything that happened, I’m going to give Tammy and Ulala the biggest, longest hugs ever!”

Tatsuya rolled his eyes. “You’ve already been spamming their phones with calls.”

“You know Uchida?” Naoya asked. “Apparently she knows this group of people who deal with demons- the ‘Kuzunoha’ clan, or something like that. Never heard of ‘em, but apparently she and Tadashi have been workin’ in tandem with the Nanjo Group for once to take out any stragglers.”

Aigis was quiet for a moment, before snapping her fingers. “...Speaking off the Shadow Operatives...”

“Nobody mentioned the--”

“...Kirijo-san should be getting here shortly.” She looked over at Ren, “She says she has something to tell you and your team.”

Maya beamed. “Ooh, how exciting! While we’re waiting for her- tell everyone what you’ve been up to Tacchan!” She patted him on the back, as he sighed.

“Nothing big. Nanjo and Kirijo are working hard to give me and any of the survivors from the Other Side new credentials… in a few days, we’ll be citizens of Japan again. Although adapting to an actual… society has been a bit rough.”

“I mean, that’s important, but not that!” Maya said, shaking his shoulders.

Tatsuya huffed. “...And Big Sis has been trying to hook me up with this timeline’s version of Yoshizaka Anna…”

“Not that either! The big thing with you, Eikichi-kun, and Lisa-chan!”

“Wh-what…?” Tatsuya said, a blush slowly creeping on his normally stoic face. “Wait, I don’t think…”

“Fine! I’ll tell them!” Maya turned to face everyone, a wide smile on her face. “Since Tacchan, Lisa-chan, and Eikichi-kun spent so much time apparently fighting in Featherman costumes- they caught the attention of the official studio! They might be getting roles in the new season!”

“A-as stunt actors…” Tatsuya mumbled. 

Aigis folded her arms. “Phoenix Ranger Featherman R is a show where all of the actors do their own stunts. To be perfectly fair, I heard this news earlier from Yukari-san. She apparently vouched for you all.”

Maya giggled. “Tacchan is pretending like he doesn’t care, but he’s super excited! He was staring at the email for hours with the adorable smile on his face!” Maya wrapped her arms around him, grinning. “I’m so proud of you, Tacchan!”

“A-anyways…” Tatsuya grumbled. “...Is Kirijo-san going to be here soon?”

As if on cue, there was a honk outside of the cafe. Ren and Aigis exchanged glances, hopping off their seats and heading outside- the other four heroes doing the same. 

They were met by the sight of a somewhat small RVpacked with teenagers, and two adults standing beside it. Ren recognized one of the adults as Kanji, but it took him more than a moment to recognize the androgynous, blue-haired woman standing next to him. He bowed respectfully towards Kanji- who awkwardly nodded in response- before looking over at the woman. “...You’re… Shirogane-san, right? You’re okay.”

“You should be in the hospital.” Yu said, arms folded as the silver-haired man looked over at Kanji. “...Kanji…”

“Listen, Yu-senpai! I tried to convince her t’stay, I really did!” He explained, hurriedly. “But--”

“But I wanted to meet the leader of the Phantom Thieves in person.” Naoto said. “Apologies, senpai. I’ll get back to the hospital as soon as possible. But I don’t feel as if I need to be there much longer. My vision has cleared up from the most part, and my physicality is returning to me at an exceptional pace.”

Kanji narrowed his eyes. “Just b’cause you can jog for a couple minutes don’t mean you’re recovered, Nao.” He placed a hand on her head, causing her to blush slightly, gently trying to push it away. “Your health is important. Just stick in there for a lil’ bit longer, and then we can go see the fireworks in Inaba together- kay?”

Naoto sighed, relenting as she leaned into him slightly. “...Fine. Nonetheless, I just wanted to officially say ‘hello’ to the Phantom Thief that had been running amok in my head for months.”

Ren blinked. He and the others had never investigated if Shirogane had a Palace… “Oh.” He said. “You mean metaphorically.”

Naoto blinked. “Wait, what does that mean? Do your methods have something to do with invading minds? You must tell me!” She took a tentative step forward, her legs wobbling for a minute as Kanji wrapped an arm around her, supporting her.

“Watch it. The docs say you shouldn’t get too excited.”

“...R-right…”

The door to the RV swung open, as Ryuji beamed at Ren- the other Phantom Thieves peeking out behind him. “Oi, Renren! You better come in here quick! Haru-senpai ended up pickin’ up some sushi for the trip, and Sumire and Yusuke have been porkin’ down on them, so if you want some…”

Ren chuckled. “Let them have mine.” He looked toward Shirogane. “Um… hey, I knew Akechi- he was your successor, right? Listen, a lot of people say he’s a fraud and a bad guy- and he wasn’t the best- but… I don’t know, he was still smart. I think if things were different, he’d be an honest successor to you. I just want to make sure his name isn’t only dragged through the mud.”

Naoto nodded calmly. “...I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you, Amamiya-kun. His reputation has made mine a bit more difficult, but your personal input is incredibly helpful.”

Naoya stretched, before pulling out his phone. “Well… this is where I say goodbye for now. Maki and I’s train heads out soon. If you’re doin’ some kind of road trip, maybe swing by Mikage-cho. There’s not a lot there, though.” He waved to the group, sliding his phone in his pocket before walking off.

The group waved as he left, before Maya and Tatsuya exchanged glances.

“...We can’t hang around here forever, Big Sis…” He said.

“I know! I just… nngh! I don’t want to say goodbye to these kids just yet!” Maya whined. She and Ren looked over at the van- door half open, as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts were seemingly back to normal. Arguing, laughing… as much as Maya reminded herself they were kids, it seemed odd to actually see them acting like it. She closed her eyes for a moment, sighing, before glancing down at Ren. 

“...Tell them thank you for me, alright, Ren-kun? And come by Sumaru sometime. There are tons of people I want you to meet.” She said, before patting him on the shoulder. “Besides- this is hardly goodbye, right? We’re just splitting up, but I’m sure we’ll see each other again!” She grinned. “And remember…”

_”Think Positive!”_ The Phantom Thieves yelled from the RV, excitedly. Of course, the excitement quickly began to die down as they all noticed that there were tears practically streaming down Maya’s face.

“...D-Did we say something wrong?” Ann asked.

“I… don’t think so…?” Niijima Makoto mumbled. “This was Haru’s idea…”

“I-I didn’t think Amano-sensei would cry, Mako-chan!”

Maya sniffed, wiping her eyes. “No, no- I just…” She leaned into Tatsuya’s shoulder. “Holy shit, these children are precious, Tacchan. Let’s go before I hop in their RV and try to stay there forever. Or before I end up adopting them without talking to your brother first. C’mon.” She patted his shoulder, as he chuckled, wrapping an arm around her.

“Right.” Tatsuya responded, before looking over at Ryuji. “Oi, Sakamoto. I wanted to say ‘thank you’ as well. You really stepped up to help me back then. You and your friends are good kids. Strong too. I’m looking forward to working with you in the future.”

“Woah, Tatsuya-san. U-uh, thank you!” Ryuji responded. Sumire giggled.

“Ryuji-senpai was really cool, wasn’t he?”

Ryuji seemed dumbfounded, slowly shuffling back into the RV as Maya and Tatsuya managed to wrench themselves away from the group and head off- Maya turning around incredibly often to wave and smile at the kids, still- very noticeably- crying.

Yu sighed with a small, somewhat sad smile as he looked over at Kanji and Naoto. “Guess we should head out too.” He looked over at Ren, before holding out his hand. “I know we’ll see each other again. After all, we just started out link together.”

“Can’t wait for the next rank-up.” Ren responded, shaking Yu’s hand. The two of them chuckled, as if sharing an inside joke that none of the others could understand. 

Yu took a deep breath, before heading off in the opposite direction that Maya and Tatsuya had split off to, Naoto and Kanji quickly and carefully following behind. The only ones that were left were the Phantom Thieves and Aigis.

“So, when is Kirijo getting here?” Ren asked.

Aigis calmly gestured in the direction where Yu had left, watching as three- no, four figures approached them. A boy with brown hair and several bags slung over her shoulder who was carefully guiding along an albino shiba inu, a muscular man with white hair and a woman with long, red hair in a wheelchair.

Ren had been… tense about the concept of meeting Kirijo Mitsuru. While he knew that the one he had met earlier was a fake- he just didn’t know how different the fake was from the real one.

“So, you’re Amamiya Ren. The ‘Phantom Thief of Hearts’.” The real Mitsuru said, as the four Shadow Operatives approached him. Ren was still for a moment, before nodding- stiffly. 

“Y-yeah.”

Mitsuru slowly stood from the wheelchair- shakily as Ken reached over to steady her. She looked at him, a bit annoyed for a moment, before relenting and accepting his help. She slowly, but deliberately bowed- long red hair falling in front of her face.

“...I apologize for the trouble I have caused you, and your allies.” She said, before standing up straighter. Her legs shook for a moment, and her eyes were still a bit clouded and foggy. Ken slowly helped her back into the wheelchair. “...Apologies. According to the doctors- I overexerted myself as soon as I was able to fight again. I’ll be bound to a wheelchair for weeks. Perhaps months. Akihiko and Amada-kun have been helpful, at least.”

Ken chuckled nervously. “When you let us help, Kirijo-san.”

Akihiko nodded. “Mitsuru is as stubborn as ever. Honestly, she should still be in the hospital.”

“As if you’re one to talk, Akihiko. Amada.” Mitsuru muttered with a pointed glare. “Last time I checked, your injuries haven’t healed either.”

“Man, keeping Persona-users in the hospital is an impossible task, isn’t it…?” Ren mumbled. Although Akihiko and Ken seemed a bit worse for wear. Their clothes covered most of their bandaged wounds, but a few managed to peek out from collars and sleeves. Mitsuru continued speaking. She carried an air of authority- just like the fake, but oddly enough the coldness he felt from her was… natural. She didn’t jeer at him, or make him feel insignificant. If anything, she carried an aura that made her someone to be respected, not feared.

“I was considering what I could do to pay you all back- and Amada-kun told me of your trip.” Mitsuru continued. “So… I’ve procured a small list of hotels and establishments owned by the Kirijo Group which you could attend expense-free.” She gestured at Akihiko, who pulled out a sheet of folded paper, handing it to Ren. He unfolded it, expecting only a few names.

...It was a very long list of very expensive places.

He glanced over at his friends, slowly passing the list onto Ann, who shared it with the rest of the group. He quietly closed the door to the RV before muffled screams of ‘holy shit’ and ‘is this for real?’ leaked out from behind the closed door. He heard Aigis chuckle behind him, as Mitsuru blinked, a bit confused.

“...Is something the matter?” The Kirijo head asked.

“A-absolutely not, Kirijo-san.” Ren said quickly, bowing. “We just didn’t expect something so… generous, I guess.”

Mitsuru sighed. “...I see. My impostor has caused plenty of problems- and I can only feel as if I need to take responsibility. The Kirijo Group has been spearheading the recovery operation, and the Shadow Operatives have been dealing with any demonic threats in Japan. This was the last thing I felt comfortable making right. Although I’m not done yet.”

“There’s more?” Ren asked, dumbfounded. 

Mitsuru nodded. “Well, in a way. I would like the Phantom Thieves to be officially affiliated with the Shadow Operatives. That is, when you graduate high school.” She handed him a card. “The day of your graduation ceremony, call me. I’ll be more than happy to give you your official badges and authentication then.”

Ken nodded. “Then we can work together. Which I’d like, because working against you guys was rough.”

Ren took the card, staring at it excitedly. “...W-will do, Kirijo-san. Thank you.”

Mitsuru smiled. “Well then. That’s everything I have to say. Now you should all go and enjoy your youth.” She glanced at Ken. “As of now, you’re officially relieved of Shadow Operative duties for the time being, Amada-kun. Go have fun.” 

Ken quickly nodded, running over excitedly to the RV and climbing inside with his bags. Mitsuru and Akihiko exchanged looks for a quick moment, before smiling at each other and slowly turning to leave. 

“Take care, Amamiya. I’ll be looking forward to your progress.” Mitsuru called out, before she and Akihiko were gone. 

Ren looked at the card Mitsuru had given him, sliding it in his pocket, before glancing over at Aigis. “...Hop in with everyone else. I just need to grab my bags from the attic and lock up LeBlanc.” He suggested. Aigis smiled, lightly patting him on the back before climbing into the RV with Ken. He stared at the van for a moment, listening to the chatter inside for a moment. The others seemed to be getting along well- although Aigis and Ken didn’t seem to be forcing themselves in the conversation too often. He found it was fit to stop eavesdropping once Futaba mentioned ‘robo-waifus’. 

He walked back inside LeBlanc, before hearing a rustling upstairs. Too heavy to be Morgana. His eyes narrowed, faint blue flames trailing from his body as he readied his Persona, quietly walking up the steps. He stopped as he saw a blonde woman lounging on his bed, smiling at him coyly.

“...You.”

_”Me.”_ Lucifer replied, casually. _”So… this is the world you’ve chosen? A world of freedom- chaotic, yet set to progress. You truly put a lot of faith in humanity.”_

“Is that a problem?” Ren asked, hands tensing. 

_”No.”_ The demon replied simply. _”...I just came here to congratulate you on your happiness. I can’t wait to see what happens next. After all, I have no qualms with this world.”_ Lucifer winked at him, before standing up. _”...I’m sure this won’t be the last time we meet. Humanity prospers, and the minds of the collective unconsciousness will still create gods and demons.”_ The demon lord turned back to face him, giving him a small, knowing smile.

_”I wonder what you’ll do next?”_

In a flash and a harsh whistle of wind, the woman was gone, and Ren was alone in his room. He tentatively reached for his bags, before Morgana bounded in through the window, seconds away from summoning his Persona. 

“Ren! I heard talking! What’s going on?”

Ren shook his head, picking up his bags. “...Just the wind. Come on, let’s get going. We’re burning daylight.” He turned, allowing Morgana to hop up on his back and climb onto his shoulders, before heading down the steps.

The world was far from fixed. It was recovering. Rebuilding. It would be filled with doubt- fear- plenty of things for humans to be afraid of and paranoid about. The scars the demons and Nyarlathotep left wouldn’t heal easily, but that didn’t mean it was impossible. The bonds between people had grown tighter. The bonds between those who had dedicated themselves to protecting humanity had begun to truly form. And no matter what happened… no matter what gods or demons tried to rip humanity apart and control the fate of the world, they’d be stopped.

Ren exhaled gently, exiting LeBlanc and looking at the packed RV. His friends waved at him- unbreakable bonds staring back at him and beckoning him forward. New connections that were just begging to be built.. People that would introduce him to fresh experiences. To brighter days. To happier, yet bittersweet moments.

To new beginnings.

**  
DARK SUN  
[ FIN ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6CbyHzJsh4)**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it.
> 
> That's Ground Zero/Dark Sun.
> 
> I was planning on just... gushing about how thankful I am, but now that I'm here, I'm honestly not sure what to say. I'm incredibly grateful to the people who stuck with me from the original, very bad Ground Zero- I'm grateful to the people who started from Dark Sun and went back to read Redux or the original, very bad Ground Zero. I'm grateful to the people that are planning on reading this days or months from now. 
> 
> This fic was literally a year in the making. I started it on a whim when I was a fresh Persona-fan who had recently hyperfixated on Persona 2 and said 'wouldn't it be funny if they met the PT?' And then this beautiful, insane mess was born. By the time I started Dark Sun, I had come to appreciate this series- Persona and MegaTen as a whole for just... everything, really. The concepts- from the insanely creative demons, to the way it explored identity, to the different aspects of humanity that it managed to drag out- everything. 
> 
> This thing is far from a masterpiece. I'm sure I'll re-read it at some point and be able to pick out every single little detail that bugs me. But... it can only get better, and I can only get better. Besides, the amount of time I've spent on this fic has made it more than just some side-project. It's something that I was genuinely passionate about- to the point where I'd spend time away from writing it stewing over the next big plot moment, or the next big stinger scene, or the next cool fight or demon to throw at people.
> 
> ...I really need some time away from this thing. If I didn't set a determined amount of chapters, I'm sure I could continue writing this for another couple of months. But this fic has jumped the shark about five times already, and I really don't want to see number six.
> 
> I'm not done with writing. But probably nothing like this again. I mean, I'd have to go bigger- maybe a full on MegaTen crossover?
> 
> Ahaha, I'm kidding of course. Or, well, unless...
> 
> Your responses and feedback honestly made this worth writing. Without you all, I would have probably said 'screw it'- and moved on to something else. 
> 
> The funniest thing about this fic is how much I wanted to change the name the more I wrote it. This fic was supposed to be gritty- the ending was supposed to be harsh and dim- mainly because that's what I had expected from SMT. But Persona is about hope, right? Hope in humanity, and moving on to another day. Hell, even Shin Megami Tensei is about pushing forward and forging a new future from the ashes of a destroyed past.
> 
> There's a lot going on in the world. Like, _a lot_. The more I wrote this, and the worse things got, the less I wanted this to be a dark, harsh fic. I wanted it to be tense, and maybe a little heartbreaking, but anything but hopeless. Still, I couldn't think of another name if I tried. Besides, at face value 'Dark Sun' is this harsh, intense song for a harsh, intense arc in the Persona 5 anime- but the lyrics are still very 'Persona' as they talk about getting out of the darkness and living on. 
> 
> Anyways, that's enough rambling from me. I'm far from being done writing- and while it would be a bit selfish to keep asking for your support, I hope I can write something else that interests you like this fic does someday.
> 
> Thank you all very much! Stay safe, and lets think positive! I hope we meet again!
> 
> \- WiggityFresh


End file.
